


Teddy Lupin and the Moonlight Killer

by Samfparker



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Teddy Lupin, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Five Stages of Grief, Friendship, Grief, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Like not a lot of drama but you try throwing that many strong personalities together in a room, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Murder Mystery, Or the scrambled mess that is the stages of grief, Pack, Serial Killers, Slow Burn, Slow start because the plot bunnies deceided to jump on the most complicated premise ever, Time Travel, Time warp, Werewolf Hermione Granger, Werewolf Teddy Lupin, Werewolves, ok not ever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:15:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 29,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27879717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samfparker/pseuds/Samfparker
Summary: On a full moon, one of Teddy's packmates and close friends is murdered.As one of the investigative Aurors, Teddy is suddenly juggling the tasks of keeping his own werewolfism a secret, maintaining the delicate balance between werewolves and the rest of Wizarding society, and hunting down whoever dared kill one of his friends.But this involves lying to his best friend and Auror partner a lot more than he used to. Add the sometimes crippling grief of loosing his packmate, and Teddy is struggling to keep up the balance act and wondering if he even wants to anymore.Yet, the same case that dredged up all these problems might also lead him to a solution.Updates M and F
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Teddy Lupin
Kudos: 10





	1. 1.1-1.5

**1.1**

* * *

They were well into the second hour of their stake-out when Teddy noticed something off. It was just a faint scent on a chance breeze, but it rang a bell in the back of his head. The trouble was, he couldn't place why it would be familiar and the breeze was gone when he tried to catch it again.

They were waiting for smugglers to meet up with their contact, but Teddy didn't think he had met any of the players in tonight's drama. Still, he scanned the supposed drop point, searching for any sign the smugglers had arrived.

It was easy enough to check the spot itself, just a clearing behind a cramped row of old houses. The tricky bit was the shrubbery along those houses and the thick line of trees where he and his partner hid. Both had too many shadows where a wary smuggler could be hiding.

He glanced towards his Auror partner, Hasan. Hasan sat up a little when Teddy looked at him, but merely had a questioning look, as if wondering what Teddy had noticed. Teddy shook his head and Hasan hunched back into the shadows of the old gardening shed.

If Hasan hadn't noticed the scent then that meant it was Teddy's wolf side that had. As helpful as it would have been to discuss the scent, Teddy couldn't tell Hasan he was a werewolf.

Being a werewolf was still social suicide, no matter how much progress the Wizarding World claimed. His werewolfism had to remain a secret if he wanted to remain an Auror and possibly even Hasan's friend. Teddy wanted to believe that nothing would change between them if he shared his secret, but he had believed that before. He didn't want to ruin another relationship by exposing that he was a monster.

Luckily, this situation didn't require explaining any monster instincts. Teddy just signaled that he was going to check the perimeter. Hasan lazily signaled that he would keep an eye out. It was still early yet and neither of them expected much yet.

Teddy crept along the trees, moving slowly to give his eyes time to adjust to the darker shadows. There was barely a rustle, even from a nocturnal bird or rodent. Nothing seemed to be out of place. The trees weren't that thick and he would have noticed if there had been someone there, no matter how dark it was.

Still, that sense of unease hadn't gone away. The shrubbery behind the house was the most likely spot for someone to be hiding without Teddy noticing. They would have had to cross the clearing to have made it into the trees, and that would be hard to do without being spotted. However, it presented the same problem to Teddy. That was, if he wished to play it safe. Hasan always got on him about blind apparitions, but they had thoroughly checked out for hours yesterday and today. Besides, what Hasan didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

He located a patch of bushes that had an empty spot big enough for a man. The light would have made it clear if someone had been standing there and so it was fairly safe to assume it was still empty. With a quick hope for luck, Teddy apparated. His entrance barely rustled the brush around him and he didn't land on any unsuspecting smuggler. A good jump.

He was congratulating himself on this when he caught the smell again. It was from someone he brushed shoulders with on a regular basis but not so frequently that he had memorized their scent. Who did he know who fit that description and would also be a smuggler?

He scanned the area around him. There was too much light filtering through from the houses and it killed his night vision. Here he had slim chances of seeing anyone in the shadows.

There was a rustle to his right. The source was past the space between this house and the next. There was no way he could cross the space without being lit up by the alleyway's light. Maybe all he had left was surprise. Was Hasan ready to provide backup? He said he would be keeping an eye on Teddy but would he be able to see anything in the dark? If he went back to warn Hasan, would it spook the smuggler into bolting?

* * *

**1.2**

* * *

Teddy took a moment to weigh his options and felt the wind shift against his cheek. There was a very quiet curse from somewhere ahead of him and then rustling as the smuggler moved. It took him a surprised moment before he registered that they were moving towards him. Or, more accurately, towards the small alleyway between them to escape.

There was no way to get to the alley in time, with all the brush between them. So instead, he prepared a shielding charm, casting it the moment he thought he could see the brush shaking on the other side. As he pushed through the brush on his side, he felt the impact as the smuggler bumped right into his shield. He glanced up and the alley's light was bright enough that he could make out a middle aged woman with dark hair. Then she muttered an oath and turned away from Teddy, running towards the clearing.

Teddy cursed himself and renewed his efforts to escape the shrubbery. By the time Teddy escaped it, it was short several more branches and Teddy had gained several scratches. He stood in the middle of the alley, panting slightly, as he hurriedly scanned for the smuggler.

She was still in the clearing, but had turned around and was now sprinting towards Teddy. Hasan had emerged from his hiding place and was running towards both of them. As the smuggler neared Teddy, the street light fully illuminated her face and the weird familiar-but-not scent finally made sense.

It was Kamya.

For a moment he just stared at her in disbelief. Kamya was part of the werewolf pack that he sometimes stayed with. He sort of knew her since she was godmother to his ex-girlfriend, but he had always tried to steer clear of her so he wouldn't get on her bad side. However, Kamya becoming a smuggler made no sense. As far as he knew, she had a respectable job as a potion-maker. Why was she caught up in any of this?

Beyond that, how could he bring her in without having both of his worlds collide in one of the worst ways imaginable? If he tried to bring her in, Kamya might expose Teddy as a werewolf to get back at him. Anything he wanted to accomplish would be gone just like that.

He still hesitated as she drew nearer, and she was able to easily avoid his half-hearted grab for her. Kamya shoved past him, the briefcase she held banging against his leg.

He'd grab the briefcase. Then they'd have the goods and he wouldn't have to worry about Kamya. Teddy took off after her with Hasan right behind him.

"Stop, police!" Hasan yelled; it was a Muggle area and that was the easiest way to avoid mind-wiping anyone.

Not that it mattered, Kamya ignored them and continued to sprint down the alley.

"Get down," Hasan growled at Teddy. It was a warning that Hasan was going to throw a spell.

Teddy ducked to one side of the alley, giving Hasan enough room to cast. Then, just as Hasan said the spell, Teddy tripped forward. He wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not, but it sealed his decision. As he fell, he positioned himself so his shoulder would be in the direct line between Hasan and Kamya.

There was a flash of light and then Teddy hit the ground before his mind even registered the pain.

* * *

**1.3**

* * *

The light was bright even against his closed eyelids so Teddy shifted to bring his right forearm over his face. Only, his whole shoulder burned the second he moved. He groaned.

"Awake?" Hasan asked from his right.

Teddy peeked an eye open. They were at the precinct again and Teddy was laid out on a sofa. Gritting his teeth, Teddy levered himself up to a sitting position. "Damn, Hasan, your Stupefy has got a bite to it. No wonder the suspects complain."

"Yet we have no complaining suspect because you" -Hasan made a stabbing motion with his finger in Teddy's direction- "decided to step into it." Hasan pulled himself to his full height, which wasn't quite as tall as Teddy's but it was made up with more muscle. "But will anybody believe me? No, because it's Teddy-bloody-prodigy-Lupin."

Teddy shrugged even though it bothered his shoulder. It hid his wince of guilt. "Maybe you just need to work on your aim," he said as blithely as he could.

"And you should stop doing blind apparitions," Hasan voiced their reoccurring argument with a little more heat than usual. He sighed and ran a hand over his closely shaven beard. "Did you at least see the suspect's face?"

Teddy's heart froze as he remembered Kamya again. Not looking at Hasan's face, Teddy shook his head. "Too dark. It was a woman, though."

Hasan quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah, I had already figured that bit out." When Teddy didn't add anything else, Hasan shook his head. "Come on, there's been a murder and they won't brief us until I get your conscious arse in there."

That explained Hasan's grumpiness. Someone had probably already chewed him out for jinxing his partner. It was an amateur move- unless the partner really had stepped into it on purpose.

Working his shoulder a little to get out the stiffness from the spell, Teddy followed his friend. Right before the door, Hasan stopped and looked back with an odd expression. "I thought you should know..." he trailed off and placed his hand on Teddy's arm. "The victim- it was a werewolf."

Teddy blinked rapidly as a roaring started in his ears. He only just resisted reaching out to grab the wall while everything settled.

"I know you are touchy about that," Hasan continued. He was, but Hasan thought it was because Teddy's father had been a werewolf. He hadn't corrected him.

"Thanks," Teddy managed to answer. Was it someone from his pack? Had there been a dominance fight? Nothing had seemed amiss that morning when he left for work. Well, apart from the usual post-full-moon chaos.

Hasan nodded. "You ready?"

Teddy wasn't, of course, but he didn't know any way to hold off the inevitable. He nodded as he tried to brace himself internally. Hasan gave him one last look and then led the way into the room.

* * *

**1.4**

* * *

They briefing room was typically reserved for brainstorming larger cases and had the scattered evidence of old meetings at the edges. There were a few folded notes flitting about, waiting for the usual Aurors to return. There were several chalk boards with mostly erased notes that were unnaturally illuminated in the glow of magically lit gas lamp.

Without the natural light that usually streamed through the windows, most of the room was cast in shadows. Teddy wasn't here this late very often and it made the familiar place seem creepy. Maybe it was just his mood.

There were far less people gathered in the room as well: only Harry and another set of junior Auror partners who had been in the same classes as Teddy and Hasan. They sat in folding chairs that barely stayed in the circle of lamp light. It was like a strange play was about to begin and Teddy was an actor who didn't know his lines.

Harry looked up, a sardonic expression glinting from the shadows. "Ah, Hasan's victim is awake so we can begin," Harry said.

Hasan stiffened beside Teddy. Hasan hadn't gotten used to how sharp Harry's tongue could be. Usually Teddy would have said something to counter Harry, but his mind was a blank buzz. He merely shook his head and sat down, giving Harry a glare as Hasan joined them.

Harry ignored them and began his briefing, which was relatively short. The victim had been found in her house early that morning when one of her packmates had come to visit her. Harry had already been there and collected some of the evidence but now the investigation was going to be handed over to the two teams in the room.

The whole routine was so normal that Teddy felt a bit disassociated from it.

The briefing done, Harry sent them back to the main office space, just as empty and creepy as the other room. Everyone trailed off to their desks so that they could gather the things they needed. As Hasan prepped his bag to leave for the murder site, Teddy moved robotically to do the same. They had said _her_. There weren't that many females in the pack. Kamya was in the clear because he had just barely seen her. But that left Lilith.

The thought brought his robotic movements to a jittering stop. No. No, it couldn't be. Yet there was something that squirmed around in his stomach, like swallowed lake water, that told him that it might be.

Someone grabbed his shoulder and Teddy looked up to see Hasan beside him. "You okay?" Hasan asked.

How could someone be okay when they were drowning? Teddy forced himself to focus on his hands, which had frozen around one of the potions he had been packing. He slowly tucked it in a pocket, giving himself time to recoup. It didn't have to be Lilith. There were other female werewolves, he told himself with a horrible sort of hope.

"The other team is ready," Hasan said, gesturing to where they and Harry stood at the doorway.

Teddy nodded again. Hasan reached and patted Teddy's shoulder several times before turning it into a strong grip. "Come on, Teddy. Don't let yourself get thrown by our busted stake-out.."

Teddy nodded and gulped, glad that Hasan had supplied an excuse for his behavior. He should have said something but all he managed was a pained smile. Then he shouldered his bag and silently joined the others.

They all walked down the hallway to where apparitions were allowed. The silence seemed to follow them down that hall, but Teddy wasn't sure if that was his imagination again. Harry pulled out a port key and motioned for all of them to hold onto it. A little more of Teddy's hope died when he saw the location written on the port key: Werewolf Forest. All too suddenly, at least in Teddy's opinion, the port key was activated with a lurch that didn't help his stomach at all. After a dizzying blur of limbs they landed in a clearing of the werewolf's forest.

* * *

**1.5**

* * *

The clearing was large enough that Harry and both of the teams could stand in it comfortably, but the dark of the woods hedged them close from every side. There was no electricity in the werewolf forest, and any buildings there relied on kerosene or magic. As such, there was very little light pollution to cut into the darkness. However, the moon was almost full and gave more than enough light to pick through the sparse trees. At least for Teddy.

The other team, Collins and Jones, were looking uneasily around. Jones was a quiet guy, not mousy but content to mostly just observe things. Collins was one of the two females in Teddy's Auror class. She was confident and competent and Teddy probably would have liked her. However, she held him in contempt for being his godfather's pet Auror. It was hard to like someone that didn't like you.

Collins glanced fearfully up at the sky, only patches of it visible through shadowy tree boughs. "Is it safe?" she asked. She stepped closer to Hasan, as if wanting his protection. Collins could take care of herself just fine as long as she had a wand in her hand. Hasan, as always, seemed oblivious to her attempt at flirting.

"Isn't it a full moon?" Collins asked Hasan when he hadn't said anything.

Teddy snorted, impatient. "That was last night." Everyone else looked at him and he realized his mistake. He scrambled for an excuse. "Lunar cycles are important to a lot of potions, don't you pay attention?"

Collins shook her head and said with her usual scorn, "None of the rest of us are related to a Potions Master."

Teddy glanced towards Harry for his reaction, but Harry was distracted by the Alpha who had materialized out of the woods. Teddy had already recognized the Alpha's scent the moment they arrived. Teddy had known the Alpha must be close but, even expecting him, the Alpha managed to give Teddy a shiver of fear.

The Alpha seemed to emerge out of nothing. Even when he was out of the deeper shadows, the moon only illuminated him enough to emphasize his hulking figure. Between that and his shadowed face, he had an eerie, almost unearthly, presence. Teddy figured the Alpha achieved this by paying close attention to light sources but the effect was still quite a feat to pull off without any magic. Teddy supposed that the Alpha resorted to these tricks because he wanted to keep the upper hand over a pack of wizard werewolves. The same logic probably applied to a bunch of wizard police.

The Alpha had been a Muggle before he was changed, and now experienced the double stigma of being both a werewolf and a Muggle. The Alpha needed his mystique and intimidation to make up for his lack of magic.

The Alpha stepped forward from the denser trees and the moon highlighted bulging muscles and the plethora of scars that crossed over his skin. He tilted his dirty-blond hair from his face and gave the group a blank stare. The rest of the group stared back, caught in the Alpha's spell.

Harry caught his balance quickly enough and abruptly started into explanations. The Alpha had agreed to let the Aurors on the grounds for the investigation, but only if they had a werewolf guide at all times. Tonight the Alpha had chosen to escort them.

Harry then introduced the Aurors. The Alpha responded to each introduction with an impassive once over and a nod of acknowledgment. When it came to Teddy, the Alpha gave no indication that he recognized him, and instead gave the same sardonic nod he had given the others. On the one hand, Teddy was grateful that the Alpha, despite being a Muggle and mostly flippant to the wizarding world's taboos, was respecting his desire for secrecy.

On the other, Teddy did not know the Alpha well enough to read any body language that might indicate who the victim was. Teddy had never enjoyed being part of the pack and had never bothered to try to fit in. Now he cursed himself for it because it had made him blind to anything he could have picked up now from the Alpha. It also had blinded him to whatever dangers had come into their pack and forest.

* * *

A/N: This was a plot bunny that just wouldn't let me go. I've experimented with doing things a lot differently than my other long story, Signum Vitalis, so feel free to let me know what you think. What do you think of the beginning of this one?


	2. 1.6-1.10

**1.6**

* * *

If Lilith was the victim, would the Alpha care? She and the Alpha had never been close. In fact, the Alpha had been irritated by Lilith in the past couple of months as she became more and more obsessed with the deaths of her parents. If it was Lilith out there, maybe he would be glad to be finally rid of the annoyance. Teddy couldn't tell. The Alpha was way too good at maintaining his blank stoic expression, no matter what was happening around him.

After the introductions, the Alpha led them down the path that led to where most of the werewolves lived. The farther they moved from the clearing, the darker the forest became. Everyone quickly illuminated their wands and the Alpha looked back with a hit of what might have been irritation. Not that the rest of the group picked up on it, they were too busy being mesmerized by being so close to an actual werewolf. The draw fell flat for Teddy and he hung back until he was in step with Harry, his godfather. They both slowed until they trailed the back of the group.

"Who is the victim?" Teddy asked in a barely contained whisper.

Harry gave him a sad look before shaking his head. "I don't know much yet. She is young, though."

Given that Harry was in his forties, young didn't mean the same thing to him as it did to Teddy. Still, his breathing ratcheted up. All the werewolves except Lilith and Teddy were over thirty.

If fate was going to play a joke like this on him, he'd rather just have Hasan with him. Why did he have to deal with the other Auror team, especially Collins, at a time like this? Why the hell was she here in the first place? She hated werewolves even more than she hated him. "Why are there two teams?" he asked. "Why are you pulling us in at all?"

Harry glanced towards the rest of the group and then rubbed between his eyebrows right below his scar. "I need your expertise, Teddy, but I couldn't show favoritism or draw attention to your... condition."

"So you pulled Collins and Jones into this?" Teddy couldn't help the bit of disgust that crept into his voice. "Hasan and I are the best junior Auror team."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "They have closed more cases than you."

Because Hasan and I are trusted with the harder ones, Teddy thought, but knew enough not to say it aloud.

"Just tell me if you see or smell anything off," Harry said with a meaningful glance before leaving to catch up with the Alpha again.

"Woof," Teddy muttered under his breath.

* * *

**1.7**

* * *

Coming out of the forest, it wasn't immediately obvious where the 'town' of werewolves was. The main structure of the town was surrounded by so many trees that one had to know it was there before they picked it out. Even then, they would be excused in not giving it much thought. It was built like a crude two-story barn that wasn't noteworthy even in the daylight. Well, except the word 'clubhouse' painted across the front of it. The Alpha apparently thought it would be more welcoming that way.

It just made Teddy feel like an adolescent every time he came to sleep here. It also exaggerated the strange dissonance of having so many middle-aged people gathering there to eat like they were back in Hogwarts.

The Alpha ignored them clubhouse and instead led them around to the footpath behind it, barely noticeable in the dark. The werewolves had chosen to build their homes here every half-kilometer or so. The farther the Aurors walked into the forest, the more tense the group became. Teddy was probably the only one who picked out the werewolf homes hidden among the trees. The rest nervously glanced in the forest, probably wondering where the Alpha was leading them.

They had passed Jane and her husband's house several minutes ago. There was only one more home where a female lived this far back. So Teddy knew whose house they would stop at. That didn't stop cold, heavy dread from coating his insides when they stopped at Lilith's family cottage. Couldn't she have gotten off just this once? They had been assigned a god that was unfeeling and cruel, or maybe it was just the universe that hated them. Why did it have to take Lilith away?

He wanted to scream and pound on something until his hands were bloody and his mind was oblivion. But he couldn't. Not now. Due to another twist of those same unfeeling fates, he couldn't show anything without risking his colleagues realizing what he was. He held his breath until a sheen of numbness coated over his anger.

Lilith's cottage was small like the others, only having ever meant to house her and her parents. The light bricks they had used barely peeked out through the massive amounts of ivy that had taken over the front of the house. Lilith had only ever bothered to cut it back from the large rectangle windows. The ivy choked chimney, usually puffing smoke, was dead. The whole house was dead, not a single cheery light to push back the darkness.

* * *

**1.8**

* * *

He focused on keeping his breathing steady and face impassive as they followed the Alpha around to the back doors. The whole back of the house was dedicated to the kitchen and that was where Lilith liked to spend her time. Of course she would have been there when she died. The thought hitched his breathing and he couldn't remember how to get it started again.

He worked to get his lungs to inhale and exhale at a steady rate, the effort and lack of oxygen building into a headache. He had almost managed to normalize his breathing when they reached the back. The scene of murder thrust itself upon him without warning and he lost his breath again. The kitchen doors had been left open, exposing her slumped body inside. At least that was what he assumed the dark figure on the ground was.

Then everyone's wands lit the room with erie blue light and he immediately could tell it was her body. He could see the blood and the scratches. His eyes skittered away to the rest of the room as he fought the bile coming into the back of his throat. The wand light didn't do much for the rest of the kitchen either. It left the corners of the room in darkness, tricking his brain into thinking there was still something lurking there. That maybe her killer was still there, hiding and watching.

Everyone crowded forward and their wands lit up the space brighter now, glinting off of the blood that splashed across the floor and cabinets. It lit up Lilith's body too, obviously naked, in a glinting pool of blood. Teddy had to close his eyes for a moment just to reign his stomach contents and the overwhelming conviction he had failed her.

They had broken up last year but it had been a relatively amicable one and he still felt protective of her even if their relationship jumbled. He had run with her in the woods last night, her wolf happy and free and alive... and now she was dead. How? He couldn't even understand the abrupt ending of someone so beautifully alive.

There was a hand on his shoulder and Teddy looked up to see Harry. The dull roaring in Teddy's head was back but he could make it out the words when Harry asked, "Can you do this?"

Teddy shook off Harry's hand and forced out the words, "Of course I can, it's my job." He stomped towards the kitchen where the rest of the Aurors had entered. He shoved down everything. He could think about all that later but now it wouldn't help. He needed to see this clinically. He had to find her killer and the only way he would do that was by finding the evidence.

There was a kitchen knife on the ground with blood on the handle and a dented skillet farther away. There was a carton of orange juice on the cabinet and several tins of cocoa powder in the trash. She must have been stressed lately, hot chocolate with cinnamon was her comfort food because it reminded her of her father.

Some of the splashes on the cabinets were actually smears that stopped abruptly. There weren't any visible footprints on the ground, he wasn't sure if it just was because there was too much blood or if the killer had just managed to clean up after himself. Teddy couldn't smell anything other than blood here. Lilith's blood. That meant scenting the killer would be impossible without his wolf's nose. Even then he probably wouldn't get anything due to how contaminated the crime scene had become. Had the Alpha been able to scent anyone before he brought in the Aurors?

Teddy assumed he hadn't. Why else would the Alpha bring in the Aurors? He glanced back at the Alpha, who watched impassively, and then redirected his eyes back to the bloody cabinets, hoping for a distinct fingerprint or maybe some hair. He circled the kitchen a few times, first looking at the cabinets and then the floor.

By the third pass he had to admit he was stalling. He had to look at her body eventually.

That was where everyone else was hovering. Her near-black hair was splayed around her head, soaked dark red in the drying blood. Her swarthy skin had paled a little with death and was covered in many shallow cuts already starting to congeal. The cuts looked like claw marks- three or four lines about equidistant from each other. The death wound wasn't obvious. Her throat had been sliced but the intent appeared more the voice-box than the carotids. Also, there were deep cuts right below the elbows. Teddy was familiar enough with anatomy to know that cutting those tendons would make her hands nearly useless.

It was clear that the bastard had enjoyed this kill and Teddy was overwhelmed by a thirst for their blood. The wolf, already so close to the surface, called for the hunt. It wanted vengeance and death. It didn't help that Teddy wanted just about the same things. He inhaled deeply and was caught by a scent. There was blood, yes, but something else. He leaned over one of her splayed arms, and examined it. The wound was oddly dark along the edges and there was a shred of green cloth. He took another deep breath, focusing hard to stop himself from gagging, and it smelled it again. Magic.

* * *

**1.9**

* * *

The scent of her wounds, that odd combination of magic and burning flesh, tugged at old memories. Those memories flashed from his brain and assaulted him, several hitting one after the other. Lilith pressed against his chest, crying as her body struggled to shake off the effects of the pack initiation. His own initiation: his leg smoking and pain melting his veins like hot iron. One of his first changes, trapped in a cage and surrounded by the cold sterility of a hospital room.

Teddy blinked, confused. He didn't know why that odd combination of scents smelled so familiar or why it would bring up those memories. He set them aside to consider later and forced himself to clinically examine the rest of her. He mentally isolated each body part to examine separately so his brain couldn't remember what it was actually part of. He methodically moved from one section of limb to the other, not wishing to miss anything even if the process roiled his stomach. The second he could justify it, he quickly turned his back and exited into the living room.

He didn't expect anything there and he didn't even try to deny to himself that it was to get away from Lilith's body. Still, he examined the room by the light of his wand, trying to loosen his hands out of fists. Nothing was out of place here, all the framed pictures of Lilith as a toddler with her parents were hung perfectly along the walls. There was a pair of sweats and a neon green shirt hanging on the banister but that didn't tell Teddy anything new. She had been wearing them that morning.

They had run together during the full moon as wolves and by the time he found her the morning after she had already been wearing those clothes, making her easy to spot. She had let him walk her back through the forest but had seemed distracted. She hadn't even bothered with an excuse when she shook off his attempts to talk. She had just looked him in the eye, thanked him for the escort, and left. Things had gotten awkward since they broke up. Their wolves got along better than they did in human form. Or _had_ gotten along. When she was still alive. His fists were back to being tightly balled, the wand biting into his left hand.

There was a creak on the floorboard and Teddy turned to see Harry enter the room. "So?" Harry asked.

Teddy took a deep breath and began a detached assessment of the situation. "She was starting to cook breakfast, he enters and, when she fights back, incapacitates her. He takes her clothes... possibly just to make it look like she had been in wolf form during the attack." His stomach was tight enough that if anyone so much as touched him, he was sure he would throw up. He hadn't seen any signs of other reasons she would be unclothed and prayed this guess was correct. "Then leaves her to bleed out."

Harry nodded and came across the room. "They found her clothes buried outside." In a lower voice he asked, "Anything else?"

"There was a smell around her wounds, especially the deeper one on her arm. Like magic. You should have it run through a full set of diagnostic spells."

Harry nodded again and then patted Teddy's head. "Good job."

Teddy rolled his eyes upward for a moment and then allowed himself to follow Harry. "Woof, woof," Teddy muttered to himself.

Shortly afterward, the rest of the Aurors joined him in the living room. Collins spoke up in annoyed tones, "Why is the Ministry wasting resources on this? The marks are clearly from a werewolf. It should be easy enough to quarantine the werewolves until they find out which one of them did it."

Teddy's teeth clenched at the idea and he glanced through the door to see if the Alpha was listening. The Alpha stood outside the kitchen, body angled so that he could observe inside and the forest around them. Probably feeling Teddy's gaze, he turned his head to the kitchen. If he had been making an effort, he could have heard Collins. Again, his face gave away nothing. He stared at Teddy for several seconds until Teddy had to look away, unnerved. Out of the corner of his eye, Teddy saw the Alpha turn to scan the rest of the forest.

Teddy swallowed and addressed Collins, "How do you explain the knife and skillet? She had already returned from being a wolf before she was killed."

Jones, Collins' teammate, spoke up. "How do you explain the claw marks?"

Teddy shrugged. "I'm not saying I have an answer but I am saying that it isn't as cut and dry as Collins is making it out to be."

Harry raised a hand and everyone turned to him. He quietly asked, "Have you heard of the Moonlight Killer?"

The Moonlight Killer was a mass murderer from over twenty years ago that Harry had never caught. They were infamous for attacking people with werewolf-like markings. The werewolf community had only been freed of suspicion when it was proved a few of the kills couldn't have happened on the full moon.

Harry continued, "I believe this may be another of his victims but the Ministry disagrees and doesn't want to waste me on the case. I will still be overseeing this investigation but that is why you have been called on."

That made sense. If they were going to catch this bastard, they were going to need more manpower than what Harry could spare between 'more important duties.' That didn't mean Teddy was happy about sharing this case with Collins and Jones. Lilith was his. Her murderer was his. He tipped his head towards Hasan to gauge his reaction.

Hasan solemnly nodded back and clapped Teddy firmly on the shoulder. "We'll get him," Hasan said in a soft dangerous voice that made Teddy glad to have him as a friend.

* * *

**1.10**

* * *

_Teddy prowled the small hospital room, irritated by the smells and unable to escape. The window had several protection spells on it that had ignored his insistent battering. Instead, he could only snarl at the full moon overhead; its light a reminder that he had many more hours before he would be free of the wolf and the woman at the far end of the room. She unsettled the wolf and, if he was being honest, himself as well. Her frozen body stank of magic. Magic too heavy and unnatural to be anything but unsettling._

_..._

_His leg was cut open and bleeding. It burned with blinding pain as the rite potion worked itself deeper into the wound. The wolf roared in him, ready to be free, to attack anyone who would dare do this to them. The full moon was nearly two weeks away but it felt like he was on the cusp of a transformation. He fought the wolf and the change with everything he had. He was sure that if he let either win it would eat his humanity whole._

_..._

" _I can't do this. I can't do this. Just make it stop," Lilith whispered, her head pressed against his chest._

" _It is over," he said as he rocked her. "Just a little longer. You were strong. Almost there."_

_She looked up at him and her brown eyes were dead. Claw marks appeared on her skin and blood oozed out to stain his hands._

He scrambled up away from her body. " _Lilith! No..."_

Someone grabbed his shoulder. He reflexively tried to arm-bar them, but they slipped out of his grasp. Teddy scrambled to his feet and came face-to-face with Hasan. Hasan's eyes gleamed bright with concern from his dark face. Teddy tried to calm his breathing and scanned the area for possible danger.

"You were talking in your sleep," Hasan whispered.

Teddy ran a sluggish hand through his hair. "Thanks."

Ever since they had been to Lilith's cottage, Teddy had had these recurring dreams (or maybe nightmares). They were just replays of old memories, with the odd splash of horror that his brain liked to mix in. He shook himself, trying to shake off the memories like a dog would shake off water.

They were staking out the same place as the night before. Teddy had lost their first lead in a while and they had no better options at the moment. They had taken refuge in the gardening shack again. So far, it was almost as quiet as his times in the Forbidden Forest.

Hasan nodded in response to Teddy's thanks. "You okay?" Hasan asked.

Teddy shrugged. "Old stuff."

It was a semi-regular occurrence for Hasan to wake Teddy up from a nightmare. The first one had actually been when they had barely met as student Aurors. Hasan hadn't asked much then. He had shrugged it off like it wasn't a big deal, just like he had tonight. That unspoken kindness might have the start of their friendship.

"I guess seeing the victim stirred it up," Teddy said honestly. Lilith probably was the reason he was getting them so frequently. He just avoided saying her name because none of the other Aurors had. Besides, saying her name would probably expose the anger that always roiling under the surface.

His nightmare still clung to him, steeping melancholy into his bones. He shivered, not looking forward to whatever other nightmares this night had in store. "In any case," Teddy said. "I can't sleep after that. How about I just start the next shift now?"

Hasan gave him another once-over and then agreed.. He pulled out his prayer mat in preparation for his night prayer. While Hasan performed the series of standing and kneeling poses that made up the rak'ah, Teddy gazed out at the darkness. As he stared, the nightmares tried to wrap themselves around him again.

Teddy ignored them and focused on the case. They had already discussed everything they had both found at Lilith's home. Hasan agreed with Teddy's theories for the most part. He had found the remnants of a redirection charm that explained why Lilith's body hadn't been found right away with the werewolves' sensitive noses.

"Did you know Jones and Collins are considered the top junior team?" Teddy asked quietly when Hasan lay down to sleep.

"So?"

"We are the top junior team."

"Arguably," Hasan said, irritating Teddy with his neutrality.

"Don't you find it insulting that Jones and Collins got pulled into this case?"

There was a pause in the darkness. "Don't spend so much of your energy worrying what everyone's opinions are. There are much more important things to be than the top team."

Teddy grunted. He didn't want philosophy. He just wanted to gripe about Harry and the rest of the Aurors. However, he got the hint and let Hasan fall asleep in peace.

* * *

A/N: I know this is super different from my other stuff but I hope you find it interesting too! Writing a murder mystery certainly has been a change of pace :)


	3. 1.11-1.15

**1.11**

* * *

That friday evening, the pack held a memorial service for Lilith. They had been her only family and probably would be the only ones to mourn her. It was a simple thing, held in the pack's clubhouse. The Alpha had decided to make it in line with a traditional Irish wake and had provided plenty of booze.

Teddy was one of the first there and was drunk by the time the rest of the pack arrived. He didn't remember most of the wake, which he didn't mind at all. His days were already a haze of anger and pain. He didn't need anyone to jab a knife into his wounds by telling him how wonderful Lilith was or any other tired platitudes. As far as he could remember, being drunk had been a pretty effective deterrent against most of the pack approaching him.

However, the alcohol hadn't stopped the dreams. They had come to him every night since Lilith's murder. Like all the times before, the night of the wake he woke drenched in a cold sweat and heart beating rapidly. He finally did get back to sleep, but the next morning, those same nightmares woke him much earlier than he would have liked. Sleep deprived, head pounding, and bile in his throat, he finally decided to do something about them.

He figured if he could confront whatever was causing these nightmares, maybe they would fade out on their own. The problem was, he wasn't sure what his subconscious was trying to tell him with these memories. The rite rituals sort of made sense; during Lilith's ritual, he had felt a desperate need to protect her from the pain of the rite. It was the same sinking need he felt now and it left him with a frustrating impotence.

However, the memory of his first change seemed out of place. Why would he remember the horrible hospital and his first few torturous full moons spent as a wolf? He decided to focus on that memory because it had the clearest puzzle to unlock and it was the easiest memory to recreate. All he had to do was visit the room he had been locked in.

He left for that room after the worst of his hangover had passed. This also gave him a good excuse to avoid the more somber part of the memorial service that would drag through the afternoon and early evening. All he had to say was he was visiting a patient at the hospital. It was true, as far as it went.

Before entering St. Mungo's, Teddy used his metamorphmagus powers, inherited from his mother, to disguise his face. It was something that Harry had insisted upon when Teddy had visited during the full moon. As he walked down the bustling hallways, the healers gave him as little attention as they had back then. The old patterns gave Teddy a not-completely-unpleasant nostalgia for when he had first become a werewolf.

When he started to show signs of potential werewolfism at Hogwarts, Harry had pulled Teddy out of school every full moon. Given the prejudice Teddy's father had suffered, Harry had been almost paranoid about the precautions to hide Teddy's werewolfism when it finally did appear. In order to hide the secret from everyone, Harry had stowed Teddy somewhere where no one would think to look: in an already occupied hospital room.

That room was conveniently placed at the very end of a hallway, away from the other patients. It was in a part of the hospital that rarely had visitors and today was no exception. As he walked, the bustle around Teddy thinned until the only distinctive sound was the scuff of his own shoes.

The silence had the unfortunate side effect of reminding him of the patient's room he was about to enter. It was always silent there.

The patient was in a perpetual magical coma and had no need for the healers to come and go with any frequency. On the days around the full moon, Harry had forbidden anyone to enter her room. Since he paid for her care out of his own pocket, no one had bothered to argue. Between that and the wards up to trap sound, it had always been almost deathly silent when Teddy had visited.

At the patient's door he paused, taking in a deep breath to prepare himself. Because he was on the pre-approved visitor list, the magical wards allowed him entrance without needing to alert a healer. Those same wards would warn him if any of the healers were to come to the room. He would have warning enough to pull on his disguise again; so, with some relief, Teddy allowed his features to return to normal.

Still, the little relief that gave him was eclipsed by the uneasiness of entering a room straight out of his room looked just as it had back when he had regularly visited. The only difference was that it was full of sunlight rather than the cool moonlight it had been bathed in within his dreams.

* * *

**1.12**

* * *

He tried to only glance briefly towards the patient. He had always found the scene unsettling. She was locked in a magically-induced coma that slowed her time to a near stand-still. Her mouth was starting to pull into a grimace that stretched the fresh claw marks on her neck. The claw marks were full of a silvery substance that contrasted sharply with her dark brown skin, making the marks glint maliciously like sharp knifes.

He turned away from the painful sight. It had been a mercy that Harry had vetted the werewolf pack quickly enough that Teddy only spent his first three changes here.

He left the patient and crossed the room to where his cage had been. One of it's corners had pressed up against a window.. He had spent most of his lucid nights here staring out that window at the moon. It was practically all he had been able to see.

He stepped closer to the window and gazed down. Below him was the traffic of people, buses, and cars that was London. Just a normal Sunday. It seemed cruel that there hadn't been a hitch in this bustle of life even in the Wizarding world when Lilith had died. None of the people close to Teddy seemed to care either; even though his world had frozen around Lilith's death. Sure, they didn't have a reason to care. That didn't stop it from rubbing him the wrong way. He pressed his forehead against the glass and heaved a huge sigh. He was abruptly struck by the image of Lilith's blackened skin and a second image of the awkward angle her head had fallen in death.

He jolted away from the glass and gasped. He blinked violently, trying to get the after-image to go away. Why the hell had he been hit with Lilith's death image so suddenly? Usually something triggered it.

He glanced warily around. Nothing had changed. It was still just him and the patient in the room. What had triggered those memories of Lilith's dead body? Did it have something to with the patient? Reluctantly, he crossed the room to exam her more closely.

The patient had been helping Harry with the Moonlight Killer case when she had been attacked. When she had port-keyed into the hospital in rough shape, the healers had done everything they could to treat the wounds. But, after a few days, it was clear she was dying. As a last effort, she was placed in a magical coma until they figured out how to heal her. Only, they never did.

Teddy cynically wondered if they would have put in the effort to keep her in the coma if she had been anybody else but best friend to Harry Potter and one-third of the Golden Trio.

Had the killer planned to do the same thing to Hermione that he had done to Lilith? How had Hermione managed to survive? Why hadn't Lilith?

What if Hermione had been able to describe her attacker before she was too far under? Lilith wouldn't have been killed. So many people wouldn't have died if she hadn't had to be put in that coma. "What do you know about your attacker?" he asked. "How do we catch him?"

She, of course, did not answer.

He sighed again and the same visions of Lilith pricked his mind. Only this time he finally realized what the connection was. It was scent. Each time he sighed, he breathed a large lungful of the potion cocktail that covered Hermione. Her smell was more complex, but over it all was the same nauseating combination of scents that had been on Lilith's body.

Teddy moved closer. Hermione's wounds were larger than he had previously thought. There was a set of slashes that started at her throat and then dragged down her left neck to her breastbone. Like maybe something had gone to rip out her throat but she had turned away from the claws.

Her wounds were not as dark as Lilith's had been. They were still dark on the outsides, which made the wounds looks smaller than they were, but the silver substance had pooled into the deepest parts of the gashes. The silver had also gathered into a thicker goop at her collarbone. The silver potion was probably something the hospital had put on her, but why was it the scent on both Lilith and Hermione?

It was a very strong smell of burning and rust and would have been hard to miss. Surely they would have neutralized any potion she had in her system? Maybe the smell had just ingrained itself into her hospital gown. Or the smell hadn't been neutralized when the potion had been?

Still, it was something worth looking into. Or, at least, asking Hasan to look into for him. Had they found anything when they compared the potion and magic screens from Lilith and Hermione? Could they use the similarities as a lead? Maybe Hermione could help them catch the Moonlight Killer after all.

* * *

**1.13**

* * *

When he left the hospital, Teddy used his metamorphmagus powers to disguise himself again. However, holding someone else's face for that long required a lot of concentration and it left Teddy mentally exhausted. He didn't feel up to facing people, especially people who would expect him to talk. So, instead of returning to the Grimmauld or his grandmother's, he decided to return to the werewolf forest where it was less likely he would be required to socialize.

Given the weekend so far, he just wanted to call it an early night. However, Lilith's funeral and the visit to the hospital had left him wired. The type of wired that made it hard to concentrate without actually giving him any energy. He needed something to wind down and he wouldn't say no to a little more alcohol-induced oblivion, the next morning be damned.

It was an open secret where the Alpha kept his booze and almost as widely known that the lock opened with an easy 'Alohomora.' Conveniently for Teddy, the Alpha's liquor cabinet was located in the pack's clubhouse. Since he lived in one of the rooms upstairs, he could just grab a beer on his way up.

However, when Teddy entered the clubhouse, he found that he was not alone. Kamya and the pack-healer were both sitting on the picnic-style tables that made up most of the ground floor. By the light of their flickering candle, he could see that the healer was bent over a deep gash in Kamya's shoulder. How had Kamya gotten that? It definitely hadn't been from her day job.

Kamya winced at something the old woman did, and then looked up at Teddy. Teddy shuffled his feet in indecision, not wanting to raid the alcohol with witnesses and not sure what to say to Kamya about... Well, anything. She seemed mixed up in both of his cases and not to mention Lilith and Kamya had been close. They shared a stare across the room until Kamya flinched again and let out a long sigh."Go get some beer. I won't tell as long as you get me some too."

The old witch looked up from Kamya's shoulder and raised an eyebrow that crinkled the thick wrinkles of her forehead. Otherwise, she said nothing and returned to her work. Teddy did not know much about the healer except that she was not a werewolf and was one of the few wizards that the alpha trusted. Considering their secret was still kept, Teddy had to believe that trust was warranted. Whether or not the Alpha would hear about pilfered Alcohol was another matter, though.

Teddy needed a beer too much to care about the healer at this point. He grabbed a glass for both Kamya and himself and sat down beside her. Kamya was a middle-aged Indian woman who usually looked put together but today she just looked worn out, especially around the eyes. Noticing his stare, she tipped her glass wearily towards him in a sort of half salute. Both drank their beers silently as the healer finished addressing Kamya's wound.

* * *

**1.14**

* * *

After the old healer left, Teddy poured himself a glass of whiskey. Kamya was still nursing her drink when he came back and sat across from her.

"This wound have anything to do with your illegal activities?" he asked.

Kamya shot him a glare. "We were having an almost pleasant moment together and you had to go and ruin it, didn't you?"

Teddy wasn't really sure why Kamya would suddenly participating in a smuggler's ring. She had raised Lilith after her parents had died. He had always thought her a generally good sort but now she was acting more weirdly than usual.

"They have anything to do with Lilith's murder?" he asked suspiciously.

She gave him a dark look. "Watch yourself, pup."

"You know anything about who killed her?"

"Why do you think I would talk to you?"

"I'm trying to find her killer." He bit out. "Or don't you care about that?"

Her lip curled. "Just because you two were lovers doesn't mean you have the monopoly on grieving her." She topped her glass off with the second beer he had left on the table. Her actions were cool and precise, no different from how she always acted.

"You have a funny way of showing it," he ground out.

Kamya took another prim sip from her beer. "You'd be happier if I was sobbing on your shoulder? Confessing my sins?"

"Sins?" Teddy prompted, hoping she'd slip something. Give him a clue to what in Merlin's beard was happening.

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't murder her and my illegal activities aren't hurting anyone."

"How can you be sure?" he countered. "It's at least endangering the creatures whose parts you are smuggling."

"You sometimes forget things, Teddy, since you have that nice cushy job you got with the help of our savior Harry Potter."

Harry hadn't helped at all when it came to Teddy's getting into the Auror program. Not even to tutor him. Teddy was about to point out as much when Kamya continued.

"You forget how hard it is to hold a job in our world when even pushing up your sleeves" -she did so and revealed bite marks on her forearm- "will get you fired from a job. No questions asked."

* * *

**1.15**

* * *

Teddy took a moment to absorb that. "They fired you?" he asked incredulously. She worked at a branch of the Ministry making potions. "That can't be legal."

A cruel smirk twisted her lips. "If I contest it then even more people will know I'm a potential werewolf. What would you do, Teddy?"

He wasn't sure. Maybe the same thing that Kamya had done. He didn't want to deal with the stigma of being a werewolf anymore than she did. Still, there had to be other options than smuggling. "So the only answer is becoming a criminal?"

"We can't all be ruddy Aurors," she snapped.

"Look, I'm trying to do this without pulling the whole Ministry into pack business," Teddy replied, trying to be reasonable.

"Well, I suppose you're the pack's savior then?

"There are actually a lot of benefits of having me in both the pack and the Ministry."

Kamya took another sip of her beer and looked unimpressed.

"With me on the case, there is a good chance we'll actually catch Lilith's killer. I can help with other things too, without exposing the details of the pack. Just tell me what is going on with the smugglers. The Ministry doesn't have to know it came from you."

Kamya raised an eyebrow, her expression otherwise unchanged. "Right, I'll just entrust all my secrets to the government snitch."

His anger was rising and Teddy knocked back the rest of his whiskey in one swig. He set it down, careful not to slam the glass, while his throat burned. "I'm not a snitch," he said, trying to be calm. "I'm an Auror to help people." He winced as he remembered Lilith. He met Kamya's gaze. "Or at least avenge them when I cannot," he said with a tone much more steely than he had meant.

She regarded him coolly for a moment. "Well, I hope you do that, Teddy, but you can't ask me to sacrifice everything for that vengeance."

That took Teddy back for a second. He was still trying to formulated a reply when Kamya stood up.

"As fun as this little Auror game has been," Kamya said as she set down her beer. "I'm going." She turned and said over her shoulder, "Besides, it's much easier to wallow in your sorrows without a partner."

And so Teddy was left with Kamya's second bottle and the realization that Lilith had been exactly the reason he needed a beer in the first place.


	4. 1.16-1.20

**1.16**

* * *

The sun completely disappeared and the healer's candle weakened- its wick sputtering in the wax. As the light waned, so did his protections against the ever-present melancholy. He was finishing his third glass of whiskey when he heard someone walking up the gravel walkway. The alpha's son had a small room on the first floor and wouldn't take kindly to Teddy stealing his dad's booze. So Teddy vanished the empty bottles and grabbed his glass before slipping into the liquor cupboard. In the absolute dark of the closet, he whispered a cleaning spell on his glass. He held his breath as returned it to the shelf, praying the glass wouldn't clink.

The front door opened and Teddy held still, waiting for the footsteps to trail off to the stairs. They didn't. Instead, they came closer. Teddy silently swore. The alpha's son was an almost perfect replica of his father and had inherited all of his father's propensity for gaining muscle. Magic or no, Teddy had no wish to get on the bad side of Tyler's already quick temper. How could he explain raiding the alpha's alcohol? Maybe he could use his metamorphmagus powers to transform into someone else? But who?

As the man on the other side came closer, Teddy could see lamplight wildly swinging under the crack of the door. Teddy's chest hurt as his heart pounded against it. Could he morph into Pret? No, Teddy didn't think Tyler would be scared of Pret like most of the werewolves were.

Pret was one of the oldest members of the pack but still managed to have no friends to speak of. Everyone avoided him and Lilith had called him the creepiest creep she had ever met. Teddy agreed. No one seemed to know anything about him except that Pret enjoyed violence.

In any case, morphing into Pret was out. He could disillusion himself. It might work in such close quarters because it was so dark. But how would Tyler react if he bumped into him accidentally? With a killer loose, his reaction would probably be worse than if he saw the intruder was Teddy.

The lamp had stopped moving and was now paused outside of the door. Teddy tried to steady his breathing and take full deep breaths. Maybe he could say he had accidentally walked in here? Tyler would only believe that if he was drunk.

Speaking of drunk, maybe Teddy shouldn't have had that glass. He could feel it kicking in and the world was getting a little fuzzy. He took another steadying breath and memories of his initiation started crowding in.

Not now. This was not the time. He backed up to the far end up the cabinet, maybe giving himself five feet from the door. If he was very very lucky, he might be able to 'Obiliviate' Tyler before he got a fist into Teddy's face.

The knob jiggled as someone struggled with the sticky lock. Definitely Tyler. Who else didn't use magic? Unless it was the Alpha? Merlin's saggy pants, that was worse. Teddy braced himself against the back cabinets in participation of that encounter.

The door eased open and Teddy palmed his wand.

The person illuminated by the light wasn't big enough to be the Alpha or his son. This man was all lean sinewy muscles and, although he was covered in scars like the Alpha, they barely stood out against his extremely pale skin. His teeth, always a little too sharp looking, shone in a wide, predatory smile.

It was Pret.

* * *

**1.17**

* * *

Teddy gulped. It was as if thinking of Pret had conjured him.

Pret's eyes narrowed, stretching a scar across his eyelid. "Hmm... Tommy-boy. Whatcha doing in the Alpha's booze?"

Teddy could've asked the same. Instead, he just tried to swallow again.

Pret stepped into the cabinet and Teddy raised his wand instinctively. Pret cocked his head. "None of that. Just here for a drink. Same as you, aye?"

"Aye- er- yes." Pret was famous for his temper that turned on a hair and the abandon in which he threw himself into a fight. Teddy very much did not want to get into a fight with Pret in the middle of a room of glass bottles and expensive alcohol. Especially since neither of them was supposed to be here in the first place.

Even if he could take him. Probably.

Pret took his time getting a drink. His hands were mangled with dark scar tissue that made it difficult to hold things. Teddy was pretty sure he was also doing it on purpose, prolonging the time that Teddy had to wait. The problem was, the longer Teddy waited, the more he felt the alcohol shifting into his system and warming him up. The tenseness in his stomach eased and there was a voice in the back of his head that said Pret wasn't that big. Sure, he seemed scary, but that was just the weakling in Teddy talking. Teddy was a trained Auror and a werewolf to top it off.

Teddy knew very well that it was probably the alcohol talking and tried to ignore the part of him egging him on into a fight. Instead, he just watched Pret's back as the man fumbled around and began pouring something into his glass.

Teddy took another deep breath to try and clear his head but now his nightmares were hovering at the edge of his vision. Pret was still clinking things around and so Teddy pressed himself against the wall and willed them to go away. By the time Pret turned around, the room had started to slosh weirdly around him.

Teddy froze as Pret looked over him speculatively. "You're drunk, aren't you, Tommy-boy?" Pret said, using his free hand to slap Teddy's shoulder.

Teddy focused hard on not listing to the side. "Hmm... probably," he said carefully, hoping it was the best response to avoid a fight.

Pret laughed, a dry hissing sort of sound. "Took her dying pretty hard, didn't you?"

Teddy was hit hard by an image of Lilith's bloody face. He had to grab onto the cabinet so he didn't face-plant or lunge at Pret. Both seemed equally likely at this point.

He took a deep breath and then another, body strung tight with the need to do something. Anything. He ignored it and time seemed to stretch oddly at the seams as he put all his effort into just staying still. At some point Pret said something and left, Teddy was a little hazy on the timing. The second the door shut, though, he blindly felt along the cabinet, looking for something he could drink and drown out the image of her body in a pool of blood.

His fingers scrambled clumsily over the bottles on the main shelf until a smaller one tipped and shattered on the floor. The scent of burning flesh from his nightmares suddenly tripled in intensity. The stench filled the small cupboard and clogged the back of his throat and he started to wretch. Teddy was hit with an uncontrollable urge to run- to escape the horrible images that were flooding his mind again.

He blindly grabbed at the door and after a few tries finally got it open. He managed to get the door closed and stumbled up the stairs. He just hoped he was drunk enough to pass out once he reached his bed.

* * *

**1.18**

* * *

When Teddy met up with Hasan at their office the next afternoon, he was still nursing a headache despite the potions and spells he had used. He was just hoping for some quiet paperwork, as horrible as that usually was.

Hasan didn't even look up before launching into a conversation. "Where have you been, Teddy?"

Teddy wearily sat down and sipped from his coffee. "I don't bounce back as quickly from hangovers as I used to."

At that, Hasan looked up. "You were out partying this weekend?" he asked incredulously.

Teddy shrugged and made a so-so motion with his hand. A wake was technically a party. "Just give me a break and tell me what's got you so worked up."

Hasan frowned at him before gathering up his papers on his desk. "I'm getting nowhere with the werewolves. Everyone is ignoring me."

Teddy froze with his coffee half way up to his mouth. "You were at the werewolf forest?"

Hasan snorted. "Barely. They kicked me out almost immediately because they were having a wake for the victim."

Teddy relaxed a little. "They were probably just closing ranks since the Wizarding World hasn't exactly given them a fair shake."

Hasan tilted his head in acquiesce of the point. "Lazy pricks can't treat them with basic respect and now my job is that much harder for it."

Teddy's eyes slid over to Collins and Jones. Now those were two pricks he would be worried about having free reign in the werewolf territory. "Maybe we can find a werewolf we trust and arrange a go between of some kind," Teddy muttered.

"That might work. You think you could talk to Alpha about it?"

Teddy nodded. "In the meantime, did you get the work up comparing the magical specs of Lilith Romero and Hermione Granger?"

"Comparing the specs of who?" Hasan blinked. "Wait... Hermione Granger? I suppose that should have been one of the first things we did," he said as he rifled through his folder and then the other papers on the desk. "Huh. Inconclusive?"

Teddy sat upright. "Inconclusive? What the hell does that mean?"

Hasan flipped the paper around so that Teddy could see it. "Too many spells between when they were attacked and the magical residue was tested."

"But how is the potions comparison inconclusive?" Teddy grumbled as he scanned down the page.

Hasan read that part of the paper. "Well, they are fairly certain it is the same potion. Maybe the brewing process evolved over twenty years?"

"So it is the same potion they are just too cowardly to concretely say so?"

Hasan raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

Realizing he did sound antagonistic, Teddy sighed and shook his head a little. "What do they think it's purpose is?"

Hasan glanced down and then hesitated.

"Please don't say it."

Hasan looked up with a pained smile.

"Inconclusive?" Teddy guessed.

"They think it might be part of a ritual killing."

"You mean because they can't do their job they are trying to do our ob for us?"

Hasan laughed softly, but he looked uncomfortable. "Teddy how about you go..." he trailed off as he obviously looked for an excuse.

Teddy, who could still feel the irritation buzzing in him, just nodded. "Yeah, you don't have to say anything. I'm too worked up right now." He stood and reached for the potions paper. "I have an outside source that can help me figure out this potion crap."

"Will Harry approve of this outside source?" Hasan asked, holding the scroll right out of reach.

Yeah," Teddy lied. "I'll clear it with him before I leave."

* * *

**1.19**

* * *

This potion master had respect for his craft which had the unfortunate side effect of taking a lot longer than the Ministry's consultant. After Teddy smuggled him the file and samples, the potion master announced that it would take at least a week. Then he was rather explicit that Teddy shouldn't harass him any sooner than that.

So Teddy focused on other things. He talked to the Alpha about a go between. Of course Teddy was out since he didn't want anyone else to realize he had connections with the werewolves. The Alpha wanted himself or his son to do it. It wouldn't work if they became suspects but so far their alibis were better than anyone else could give. The Alpha didn't spend the full moon in the forest and neither did his son. If they had been there that morning it would have been commented upon.

Besides, they had to start somewhere. Otherwise Teddy would go insane trying to check and double check possibilities. After a little dithering, Teddy agreed to the Alpha becoming the werewolf liaison. So the next few days Hasan and Teddy worked with the Alpha to check out the pack's alibis. Since a lot of the pack spent the full moon running with someone else, it was mostly a matter cross checking their stories.

By the end of it, they had narrowed the list down to a small handful of names. The Alpha agreed to giving their information over to Teddy and Hasan as long as the information did not go beyond them. All of them were acting like Jones and Collins weren't involved which suited Teddy just fine. If they couldn't get information out of the pack, why did it have anything to do with Teddy?

However, even with much smaller list of names, Teddy and Hasan were left floundering. Was this a separate incident from the serial killings twenty years ago? What exactly was the motive if it was? What was the motive if it was the serial killer? There seemed little benefit in reemerging to kill again.

Teddy wanted some idea of what was happening before they tried truly interrogating their suspects. So, although it was two days early, Teddy decided to see how far the potion master had gotten on the mystery potion connection.

As was common these days, Teddy found his Uncle in the potion laboratory behind the Manor gardens. Technically, Draco was actually his first cousin, once removed. Uncle was a lot easier to say. Especially when he was smaller and had spent a lot of time in these very gardens.

There weren't any shade trees on the walk he had taken. So the blazing morning sun made Teddy nearly blind as he walked into the darkness of the laboratory.

"I'm in the middle of something," Draco said grumpily from across the room. "Just sit over there and don't mess with anything."

Used to this sort of treatment, Teddy found a stool along the edge of the room. He browsed through the books squeezed between potion ingredients on the shelves. Once he found a good textbook, Teddy flipped through it, occasionally glancing back up at his Uncle.

Normally clean-shaven, Draco's beard had grown past just a five o'clock shadow. His hair had also grown shaggy, exposing the grays usually lost in his blonde hair. Maybe Draco really was as busy as he had claimed. It had taken a lot more convincing than Teddy had expected. He had to reassure Draco that information that the Ministry's current Potion Master had given them was useless. On top of this, Teddy had heavily implied how bad Draco could make Harry look if he found the next lead on a decades-old cold case. Even then, Draco was reluctant to spend more time away from his wife. He had only relented when Teddy nearly broke down trying to explain how important the case was to him. Not one of Teddy's proudest moments.

"You haven't given me much to go on, Teddy," his Uncle said, putting away bottles of spell ingredients. "You should be amazed that I could get anything from it."

Teddy let Draco boast, knowing he would be more willing to share his information this way.

His work place tidied, Draco turned to a different shelf. He pulled out three potions: a milky white one with shots of silver throughout, a muddy brown one, and a violently neon-green one.

He set these on the table as he explained, "I was able to construct the 'antidote' that the Potions Master used on Granger's wounds." He motioned towards the white potion. Then he gestured towards the muddy-brown potion. "And I formulated this to mimic the potion found in her wounds. I based it off of the notes of the Potion Master" -Draco gave him a put-upon look- "a nearly impossible task."

"So, what's the green one?" Teddy asked.

Draco glared at him. "Did I mention how incredibly brilliant I am for being able to recreate these potions?"

"You are extremely brilliant, Uncle. Why do you think I brought it to you? Nobody else could have figured it out."

Draco gave him a considering look and Teddy wondered if he had laid it on too thick, but Draco continued. "The green vial is what the half-wit Potions Master should have used on Granger's wounds as it was the true antidote to the original potion."

"So, did you find out what the brown potion does?"

Again, he was met by an annoyed look from his Uncle. "In fact, that would be nearly impossible without a true sample of the potion but I have determined the most probable classification. The powdered zincite indicates an enhancing or trans-formative effect. Given another ingredient is wolves' teeth, it is most likely to take on powers associated with a wolf. Or possibly enhance those powers already owned by a werewolf."

Teddy was trying to process that as Draco pulled out a knife and pressed it against his own forearm.

"Uncle?" Teddy asked hesitantly, watching the blade on Draco's pale arm. "What are you doing?"

"Tissue sample," Draco muttered absently before nicking off a piece of skin. The blood immediately welled in the small divot. The blood started dripping down his arm and Draco staunched it with a handkerchief.

"Bloody hell!" Teddy pulled his wand out to heal the cut.

Draco waved it impatiently away. "Magic this near the samples might interfere with the results." He scraped the knife against the inside of a test tube and pointed to the empty tube sitting next to it. "Your turn."

Teddy took a careful step back. "What?"

* * *

**1.20**

* * *

Draco gestured towards a pocket-knife-sized blade that sat next to the test tube. "I need your body to test the effects of the potion on a werewolf."

Teddy paused mid-way in another step backward. "So... no blood sacrifices?"

His Uncle tightened the handkerchief on his arm with his hand and teeth. "Stop being a coward, Teddy. I need this for my experiment."

Teddy hesitated at the idea of slicing into his skin, especially at the sight of red bleeding through the handkerchief on Draco's arm. Still, it wasn't that much to ask for when it came to solving Lilith's murder. He sighed. "Can I heal it magically afterward?"

As Draco muttered his assent, Teddy rolled up his shorts so a long keloid scar across his thigh was visible. Teddy wasn't sure why the scar wouldn't heal. It probably had to do with the rite potion that had been poured into the cut during his initiation.

Teddy was about to cut into it when Draco grabbed his arm. "How did you get that?"

"That's where they cut me for the initiation ritual and magic can't heal it. I don't want another scar if I can help it." Teddy thought it was unlikely that he would get a scar this time around. But seeing he didn't know what Draco had planned, he didn't want to risk it.

Draco stared at it with his lips pressed thinly together. "I don't want my results screwed up by it either. Cut from somewhere else."

Teddy gritted his teeth for a moment and then gave in, switching to his other thigh at about the same spot. It was just high enough he could hide the scars even while wearing swimming trunks. He then copied what Draco had done earlier. When Teddy pulled out his wand to heal his leg, Draco motioned him backward.

"Do that by the door."

Teddy clamped a hand over his leg and backed up to the door. By the time he reached it, enough blood had slid through his fingers to soak the top of his sock. Trust his Uncle to make him feel imbalanced the second they started talking. Shaking his head, he healed his thigh andthen Scourgify-ed his sock. By the time Teddy returned, Draco had poured the brown liquid over his own test tube and was casting spells on it and then scribbling on a notebook. As far as Teddy could tell, nothing had happened. When it looked like his Uncle was slowing down, Teddy asked, "Anything?"

Draco shook his head. "Possibly. Definite increase in the release of sympathetic hormones and imbalance of humors. Could it change a man to a wolf? That... too little to tell. What human would willingly be a test subject? Unlikely..."

"Uncle?"

Draco waved him off and poured the same brown potion on Teddy's test tube. The skin hissed and smoke drifted up into the air.

Teddy choked and covered his mouth with his shirt. "Uncle! That's horrible-"

"Shut it, Teddy," Draco said before starting into a series of spells again. This went on for some time, the skin completely black by the end of it. Then he picked up the white potion and poured it over the tube again. This time it steamed, letting off a horrid magic stench that somehow was familiar to Teddy.

It took Teddy a few moments to recognize that it was very similar to a scent in Hermione's hospital room. As soon as he recognized it, he quickly covered his face with his shirt. The smoke was thick enough he was having a hard time breathing. Slowly it dissipated enough that Teddy could see the vial again. The two potions had formed a dark shimmery mass that slid around his blackened piece of skin, more grey than black now.

Draco was back to casting spells and Teddy just focused on using his shirt as a filter for the air he was trying to breathe in. They were two weeks away from a full moon so his senses dulled to almost human but still the stench was practically unbearable. Caught up in this, Teddy was a little slow on the uptake as his Uncle stormed over to him and grabbed his shirt collar.

"Fireplace. Now," Draco said as he half-dragged Teddy behind him.

"What? Where are we going? What happened?"

Draco ignored him as he threw floo powder into the fireplace. As it flashed green, he called out, "Grimmauld Place."

* * *

A/N: Happy Christmas, guys! Hope you find a way to enjoy it :)


	5. 1.21-1.25

**1.21**

* * *

"Oh, hell no!" Teddy yelled, pulling on his shirt. "You can't tell him yet. I haven't-" Upon taking a full lungful of the tainted air, Teddy choked for several seconds.

Teddy had very carefully not told Harry about consulting Draco. Even though Harry's hatred was mostly based on an old Hogwarts feud, he had never fully let it go. No matter how much Teddy needed it, Harry would never have agreed to consult Draco as a Potion Master.

So Teddy hadn't gotten Harry's approval to share classified information with Draco. If Draco had found something, Teddy had planned on breaking the news in some way that wouldn't land him in deep shite. He wanted to explain all this to Draco but he couldn't say any of this while his lungs tried to hack up the potion-laced air. It honestly felt like the smoke was digging into him and trying to kill him while Draco stood, largely unaffected.

"Potter, hurry up! I haven't got all day for this." Instead of traveling through the fireplace, Draco had opted to use the flames as a sort of magical phone call.

Harry's face had appeared in the flames, wearing a very petulant expression. "What in Merlin's beard do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked and then he spied Teddy. "And what the hell are you doing with my godson?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "He so happens to be related to me as well, Potter. He asked for my help because your Potion Master is a nitwit."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, leaning farther forward and trying to take a good look at the room. Harry's voice was low and cool. "What did you do, Teddy?"

Teddy sputtered.

"This isn't about that," Draco said, dismissing it with a sharp hand gesture. "I'm here about what your healers are doing to Granger. Which is killing her."

"What?" Teddy yelped, twisting in Draco's grip. "You didn't say that!"

Harry's eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you talking about? Those potions are the only things keeping her alive."

"Under other circumstances, maybe," Draco agreed. "But not for her."

"Why not?" Harry asked guardedly, his head still floating in the fireplace.

"Because Granger is a werewolf," Draco said conversationally.

There was a moment where Teddy and Harry just stared at him.

"What?" Harry snarled when he had recovered. "Why did you call me to just spew bloody nonsense?"

"Her attacker didn't need the full moon," Draco answered, unfazed. "As long as he was a werewolf, the potion would change his saliva enough to infect her."

"But... that can't be possible," Teddy said faintly. "I've never seen her transform on a full moon."

Draco sighed impatiently. "At the rate the healers slowed down her time, the past twenty years were less than three days for her. One night would have passed in half a second."

Teddy processed this for a moment. "So her body didn't have time to start to change before the full moon was over?"

Draco nodded. "And she is dying from not transforming, she just hasn't had time to die all the way. At least not in her time."

Harry made a sound of disbelief.

Draco turned his glare back on Harry. "If Granger is a werewolf then she wasn't dying when she arrived at St. Mungo's. It was only after she was given the potions that she started dying." His grip tightened on the back of Teddy's shirt. "I'll prove it and you'll have to admit you trusted in idiots."

* * *

**1.22**

* * *

Eventually, Harry let them over to Grimmauld place. The fireplace was situated in Harry's office. Everything was a little cluttered in the Potter house and this room was no different. The desk and shelves were overwhelmed by textbooks, children's drawings, and odd souvenirs. They didn't leave very much room for Teddy to escape to when Draco finally let go of his shirt.

Between the exchange of insults, Draco was able to get his information across. From what Teddy could glean, the white potion suppressed a werewolves' transformation. Draco was convinced that if a werewolf couldn't transform on a full moon, it would die. He cited convoluted theoretical research that Teddy had never heard of before. Then he started talking about the preliminary experiments he had done back at his lab on Teddy's donated tissue.

At this point, Teddy was trying to back out of the room without drawing the attention of either of his Uncles.

"Teddy," Harry snapped and Teddy straightened, conditioned by years of having Harry as his surrogate father. "You let this madman experiment on you? How could you let him know about your secret?"

Draco snorted. "That he is a werewolf? I figured that out the first year he started changing. I'm not an idiot, unlike some people," -Harry glared at this- "and who do you think was poly-juiced as him at Hogwarts?"

Teddy froze. When he was back in Hogwarts, they had decided it would be less suspicious if someone took his place during the full moons. Harry had recommended Ron. But neither Ron nor Teddy wanted this option. So, without telling Harry, Teddy had asked his Uncle Draco instead. Draco had agreed more easily than Teddy had expected, making him a little uneasy. When the first year passed without any pranks or disasters, Teddy finally relaxed.

Even so, his friends had always said that Teddy was a jerk once a month and his girlfriend had teased that he had PMS (which Teddy very very much did not appreciate). Still, it was a small sacrifice compared to being replaced by his Aunt Ginny or, Merlin forbid, his grandmother.

Harry was still choking in disbelief. "Him- you? Hogwarts?"

Teddy was torn between trying to explain himself and bolting. Seeing Harry's wrath increase with each exchange, Teddy was pretty sure leaving was the safer bet and started slipping towards the door. Harry stopped him with a glare and an accusing finger. "You, we are talking about this later after I deal with him." Harry's finger jabbed in Draco's direction. "Just know you are banned from Lilith's case."

Teddy forgot about his escape. "What? I- we just cracked it open and you are going to throw me off of it?"

Harry shook his head. "You're off and that is final."

Teddy returned to where his Uncles were standing and tried to argue the point. Harry wasn't listening and Draco didn't help. Draco did try, in his way, but it seemed to incite Harry rather than do anything productive. Finally, Teddy had to give up and leave before things got even worse between them.

* * *

**1.23**

* * *

By some miracle, Harry was eventually convinced that Hermione might be a werewolf and the potions in her system were probably killing her. Although Harry wasn't happy about it, Draco had been taken on as a medical consultant for Hermione's case. Teddy didn't expect that to go well and (sure enough) had heard second-hand about some of their public insults. However, within the week Draco and Harry developed a plan for healing Hermione. Teddy wondered how much of their fast work was due to their desire to be rid of each other.

In any case, it meant they could lift the time-coma at the next full moon. Then they would administer an antidote to the white potion that she had been given when she first entered St. Mungo's. Hermione, free of the potion's effects, would transform into a werewolf and stop wasting away. At least, that was the theory.

They knew Draco's potions worked, at least to some degree, because they had tried them on Teddy. Teddy had had a lingering cough after the events at the Manor. Draco suspected it was from inhaling some of the potion that was killing Hermione. So he gave Teddy some of the potion that he was brewing for her. When the cough resolved within a day, Draco seemed quite pleased.

However, there were a lot of other factors when it came to Hermione's case. Draco didn't let anyone forget that they were dealing with a lot of unknowns. He refused to let any humans near Hermione during her change. Draco said it was because she might attack them, but had only been adamant about it after Teddy admitted that the presence of humans tended to distress new wolves.

Harry had contested this, like most of Draco's other ideas. However, they ultimately compromised by allowing Teddy to stay since he was a werewolf. Harry had been reluctant to allow Teddy back into the case, even for this little amount, but there were few alternatives. That didn't mean that Harry gave an inch on anything else, though.

Harry didn't tell the other group about Teddy's ban, but he did tell Hasan. Teddy found this out the hard way when he tried to milk Hasan for any information when they were out on yet another stakeout for the smuggling case. Because Teddy wouldn't identify the smuggler as his pack mate, their leads had essentially dried up. Thus, another stakeout.

"How did you manage to get yourself kicked off this case, Teddy?" Hasan asked. "I thought we were only on the werewolf case because of you."

Teddy's heart rate picked up. "Why would it be because of me?"

Hasan paused for a moment before gesturing towards Teddy. "You know. You're Harry's godson?"

Teddy let out a breath and then feigned outrage. "Really? You're going to pull that on me?"

Hasan shrugged. "The others are convinced that is the only reason we close our cases."

Teddy snorted. "Yeah, Harry does all my work for me."

"If only he did the paperwork," Hasan said slyly. "Then it would actually get done too."

Teddy rolled his eyes. "It eventually gets done."

Hasan smirked and then sobered as he looked out over one of the disreputable parts of Diagon Alley. "So, what did you do? You must have really screwed up."

Knowing that it was going to come out anyway, Teddy said, "I asked my Uncle Draco to look at the case files for Lilith and Hermione's cases."

Hasan whistled. "You really were stupid. Involving an unauthorized civilian and letting them look at case files? You are lucky you're still an Auror."

Teddy settled back against the wall with his arms crossed. "Harry would never have approved. Besides, it got the job done, didn't it? If Draco is right about Hermione being a werewolf, she can give us a lead on the murderer."

"And that attitude is called vigilantism," Hasan said dryly. "Its a very fine line to walk, my friend."

Teddy considered this and grunted. "You think I'm going to start acting like the other bad Aurors?"

"Fine line," Hasan said lightly.

* * *

**1.24**

* * *

Teddy responded with a noncommittal grunt and leaned over the balcony to watch someone with a briefcase. They didn't visit any of the shops they thought were associated with the smuggling business. He leaned back. "But I'm not doing this for power. I'm doing this to help someone."

Hasan looked away at the empty street. "How do you think they all started?"

"You are saying that all of them thought they were helping people when they bullied wizards or werewolves or whatever?"

Hasan turned to Teddy. "Say there is something dangerous out there. Everyone expects you to help protect them but you don't know how. You are angry and scared but nothing you do seems to make a difference."

"What I do makes a difference," Teddy said defensively.

"Imagine," Hasan said, ignoring him, "that you see someone who is part of the problem. Maybe it is those blood-purists that are beginning to sound like Voldemort. You'd nail them, wouldn't you? Maybe nudge things so they are punished a little more then is allowed?"

"But they are bad and the law is pretty lenient on those types."

Hasan gave him a very weary look. "Because you are above prejudice, unlike the other Aurors? Being Harry's godson makes you infallible?"

"You know what, sod off," Teddy snarled.

Hasan didn't say anything.

Teddy turned the previous conversation over in his mind. Hasan was basically saying that he was like those corrupt Aurors. Did he think so little of him? Teddy had thought they were friends. Did Hasan despise him instead? That stung. Really really stung. How had Teddy never noticed before this?

"Teddy," Hasan said with a sigh.

"What," Teddy said gruffly, resolutely staring at the street.

"You get why I'm telling you this, right?"

Teddy grunted.

"You see a friend on the ledge and you pull them back before they slide off, right?"

Teddy paused and regrouped. Friend? Did Hasan hate him or not? He rethought through their conversation. "You think I'm going to become like them?" he asked warily.

Hasan shrugged. "Can't you see how easy it would be to be like them?"

Maybe the reason Teddy had freaked out was because it hit too close to home. Maybe Hasan could see it too and was doing the best he could to make sure it didn't happen. He grasped Hasan's shoulder. "Er... thanks, man."

Hasan laughed awkwardly. "What are friends for?"

Feeling awkward himself, Teddy slapped Hasan's back, maybe a little harder than usual. "So what do I? Letter of law even if it hurts people?"

Hasan shook his head. "I didn't say I had all the answers. Just wanted you to stop and think for once."

"Oh, now you are calling me an idiot too?" Teddy said, only half feigning outrage this time around.

"Teddy," Hasan said with a deep sigh. "You know you are an idiot sometimes.

Teddy couldn't argue the point so he just sighed. "Just gotta kick me while I'm down, don't you? If I'm the idiot what does that make you?"

Hasan smirked. "The one that is going to let said idiot drag me along on his godfather's coat-tails."

Teddy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, good luck with that."

They passed the night camped out on the terrace of one of the buildings. All they saw were a few people with briefcases wandering through a few shady shops. Unfortunately, owning a briefcase was not enough for Teddy and Hasan to accost any of the patrons and so that night was essentially a bust.

The next following nights were also a bust and eventually Harry declared their smuggling case dead in the water. Since Teddy had also been pulled from Lilith's case, Teddy and Hasan got shunting into helping the other Aurors with their caseload. Teddy had royally screwed things up for both of them on both of their first independent cases.

Idiot indeed.

* * *

**1.25**

* * *

For Teddy, there was always an uneasy anticipation of the full moon. The week leading up to this full moon was worse. For one, he would have to change in that same hospital room as his first horrible changes. Then there was the potential of Hermione actually becoming conscious again. Would she be able to tell them about her attacker? Would he be able to bring Lilith's killer to justice? He didn't seem to have many others ways to achieve this now that he had been pulled from the case. He could barely concentrate as the days counted down.

Harry, on the other hand, seemed cheerier than usual, even with the intermittent presence of Draco. Harry usually didn't bother crossing off dates on his calendar, and definitely wouldn't have circled a full moon before this. However, Teddy had seen both on his work calendar, no less. It gave Teddy an odd pang of jealousy.

Harry seemed to have no qualms about Hermione or the public-ness of her werewolfism.

Finally, the day of the full moon came. Teddy and his Uncles met at St. Mungo's and were escorted to Hermione's room. Although Ron was no longer in the investigative branch of the Aurors, he had insisted on joining them. Their conversations had been very tense, all three men shooting glares around Teddy. When the group arrived at the hospital, Draco split off to vent his frustration on the healers in the room. Ron and Harry hovered over the time-theory specialists who were reviewing charms. Though the questions seemed banal to Teddy, the specialists seemed happy enough to stop and explain them to Ron and Harry.

Meanwhile, Draco had cornered the oldest healer. He was gesturing emphatically towards the potion bottles that he had lined up by Hermione's bed. The old lady looked ready to roll her eyes when she caught sight of Teddy. She winked a wrinkled eye and he realized it was the pack healer. It relaxed Teddy a little, to have a healer here who might know how to deal with Hermione's werewolf side. It also made him wonder how much of the so-called magical creature community could so seamlessly integrate into the wizarding society like they did.

When there were only two hours to the full moon, they released the spell. Teddy wasn't sure what to expect, other than screaming. When he saw her, Hermione always looked like she was about to scream. Except, that didn't happen. Instead, she panted softly, seemingly still unconscious. Harry gripped her hand while Draco carefully poured the antidote potion over her wounds.

A strange smell curled up from where the antidote potion neutralized the white potion. Clean and sharp like a thunderstorm. Draco followed this with the green potion that he had also manufactured. This was the one that countered the potion left in Hermione's wounds by her attacker. Again, came the smell of ozone, erasing the lingering smell of burning.

Lastly, he had to feed one to her internally. Draco dribbled the potion into her mouth while one of the other healers worked Hermione's throat so she would swallow. Finally, all of the potion had disappeared as well.

Draco performed a few spells and then his finally relaxed. "She should be able to transform into a wolf now."

Harry's lips thinned and he stared down at Hermione. He patted the hand of hers that he still held. Then he sighed.

Ron shifted from foot to foot. "If anything happens to her, I'm going to sic Ginny on you, Malfoy."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Yes. I will risk my professional reputation to resume childhood bullying."

Harry grunted. Teddy wasn't sure if it was an indication of disbelief or some other emotion.

After various tests from both the healers and the time-theory specialists, the room emptied out except for Teddy and his Uncles. They had explained Teddy's presence to the others by stating they were going to use his metamorphmagus powers so Hermione's wolf didn't realize there was a human in the room. They didn't mention that Teddy would be changing into a wolf as well.

Sure, due to his metamorphmagus powers, Teddy could change into a wolf outside of the full moon. However, the one true animal morph of a metamorphmagus tended to reveal a lot about them. It was extremely likely that if someone knew his animal morph was a wolf then they would make the connection between Teddy and his werewolfism. So, they didn't specify which animal he would change into.

No one pressed for further explanation. That left Harry and Draco to lecture Teddy one last time. Yet, all too soon, Teddy was alone with her. The room was darkening now that dusk had arrived and the pull of the full moon was less than an hour away.

* * *

A/N: Happy New Year!


	6. 1.26-1.31

**1.26**

* * *

Teddy took the Wolfsbane potion variant that allowed him to keep his mind during the change. He was enough in control that he did not need to be hindered by chains or cages. Hermione, however, now had her wrists bound by ropes so that she wouldn't claw at her skin during the change. With the full moon almost here, she had come closer to consciousness. Her eyes hadn't opened but she thrashed from side to side, whimpering in pain.

Teddy backed into one of the corners of the room about as far from her as he could get. It wasn't the sound that was irritating his ears this close to the change, but the suffering radiating off of her. He was fiercely glad that she had been unconscious most of the time since they lifted the coma.

The change was near, he could feel his wolf as it awakened and there was a buzzing of anticipation that hung in the air. He wasn't sure if that buzzing was some kind of magic or if it was just in his mind. Was it a magic that, once concentrated enough, allowed for this impossible change of man to wolf? He didn't know.

In any case, it came as it always did. He felt the buzzing build and build until it filled his every atom and the change overtook him. Once it hit him, he was deaf and blind to all else. He was only aware of pain that slid into him like a heated knife and made everything blank out in white misery. It was one of the negative effects of the potion- it did not deaden his mind and so Teddy was aware of everything that was happening to his body. Some of the werewolves had tried to numb it with alcohol. That just dampened the effects of the potion and made them even more vulnerable to the desires of their wolves.

Teddy had learned to meditate on the sensations in order to survive the pain. Right now, that fire that felt like it was eating away his skin was actually hair thickening into fur. The sensation of his skull exploding under his eyes was actually his mouth reforming into a snout. The subsequent pops weren't Weasley firecrackers but his teeth sharpening into those of a carnivore. After each pop he inhaled and let it out again with the next explosion. And so it went with agonizing slowness while still rushing at him too fast to fully cope. His only saving grace that was it only took a few minutes for this all to occur. If it had lasted much longer, Teddy might have done something quite drastic to make sure he never had to experience it again. He could understand why some chose the complete abyss of not even trying to control the wolf or the change.

Then, when the pain finally stopped enough for him to think clearly, the wolf would carefully try to take dominion of their mind. This time, as he finally drew in a full breath, Hermione's pained screams attacked his ears. The wolf, excited by a human so close, jumped into his thoughts with less finesse than usual. Attack, it snarled, sink his teeth into flesh and silence it. Didn't he want that incessant noise to stop?

It scared Teddy to realize how reasonable even thoughts like these could seem to him. Was he becoming a beast? Maybe that was why it seemed so easy for him to fall into the same trap as the other Aurors. Maybe the beast was slowly taking over him even when the moon wasn't full. He had been under the moon's pull when he had ruined his relationship with Lilith. In a certain way, it had also affected his relationship with his girlfriend before that, Victoire.

Teddy took a deep breath and pushed out the thoughts of the wolf. He needed to check on Hermione. If she was screaming that meant she hadn't changed and the potion hadn't worked. He would have to get Harry and Draco soon so they could put her back under the stasis spell. If he had been human, Teddy would have punched something out of frustration. In this form, teeth would do just as nicely, the wolf reminded him. Teddy angrily shoved the wolf aside again and prowled over to Hermione's hospital bed. The bed was too high when he was on all fours so he propped his fore-paws on the bed to observe Hermione.

* * *

**1.27**

* * *

Hermione was thrashing about on the bed, looking like she was still in a lot of pain. As much as they needed Hermione's information, it wasn't worth this. His uncles needed to put her back in the coma. They would just have to try again once they knew what went wrong.

Teddy was about to jump down from the bed when she opened her mouth to scream again. Her teeth, usually everything normal teeth should be, were sharpening. Draco had said something about a delicate balance for her wolf. Maybe the potions were making it harder to change?

Teddy decided to give her time even as he winced at another whimper. He hopped down from the bed and started pacing the room. How long was too long of a wait? How many minutes should he give her before getting help? How long had he taken with his first change? It had seemed like forever but he knew he wasn't a good judge because of how much pain he had been in. Teddy's ears pinned back as he waited. Then he flicked one ear towards Hermione. Did she sound different? His ear flicked back to the door. Did Harry and Draco hear it?

It came again, her cries more guttural and choking. In a few leaps, Teddy was at the edge of the bed again. Hermione's nose and chin were definitely elongating. Not in the fast explosion-way but like lava pouring over her features. Her skin was rippling under a carpet of fur, some places a rich brown like her skin and other places darkening into a near black. He rested his muzzle down on his paws for a few moments but the change was to slow to watch. He got up to pace again.

How had he survived his first few changes here, cooped up with nothing to do? He thought back and recalled he hadn't had a potion the first time. The wolf had had full control and Teddy didn't remember anything. The next few changes Harry had managed to procure true wolfsbane potion. It affected him like a narcotic and everything became irrelevant. Sure, he still knew his bones were melting and that his claws were spurting from raw skin. He just couldn't bring himself to care. He was too busy yawning, waiting for it to be over so he could sleep. That experience was nearly the opposite of the modified wolfsbane that made everything too too real.

With each round of pacing the room, Teddy would check on Hermione again. Sometimes it seemed like nothing changed and he would worry that she was going to get stuck midway. He had had nightmares about that before. Probably every werewolf did.

Then, on the next round, he would see her toes flattening out into pads or the start of her tail. Inch, by slow inch, Hermione changed from woman to wolf. It must have taken half an hour at least before Teddy was sure that she had fully shifted.

Then she got up, shifting to sit on her haunches at the edge of the bed. She was no longer hampered by the ropes that had tied her. When her hands had changed from human to wolf-paws, the ropes had slipped off. Luckily, by that time she was no longer inclined to clawing off her own skin.

Now she seemed completely self-possessed, staring at him from the bed's higher vantage point.

He stared back, waiting.

* * *

**1.28**

* * *

She was beautiful, blending into the night except when her coat glinted or her gold eyes flashed. Beautiful but potentially very dangerous. Teddy had never been around another werewolf that hadn't been using one type of potion or another. Was her first instinct to attack him? Or would she find comfort in the presence of another of her species?

Her eyes skimmed over him. Teddy shifted uncomfortably. He was a little skinny for a werewolf, his legs long and gangly. Still, he wasn't really sure what a female wolf might approve of. He wasn't sure what this female wolf thought of him. When her eyes flicked back up to his face he could read no challenge in her body language. That was good, he thought. Probably.

She hopped down from the bed and came towards him with easy strides. Since it didn't seem aggressive Teddy held still. She began to nose his fur. Sniffing softly as her snout slid along his side. It might not be a sexual advance in wolf language, but Teddy's hairs twitched in response every time she moved.

He knew from experience that the wolf carried the scents from their human lives as well as what they picked up as wolves. Lilith had told him he smelled like the straw of the training fields and his grandmother's cooking. Tonight, there was probably also the potions that Draco had brewed and the Ministry's scrolls. Would her human side recognize these smells or was she buried too deep underneath the wolf?

He held himself mostly still but wasn't able to completely turn his back on her. As she circled him, his head swiveled to follow. She seemed friendly enough, but he had no idea what was actually going on, did he? Why had he never tried to figure out actual wolf body language or flirting or whatever? Because he never thought he would be in this situation before, that's why.

Finally, she sat back. Figuring it was good manners, Teddy hesitantly returned the perusal. She watched with her strangely human eyes but didn't make any other move. There wasn't much to find in her fur but potions and magic. There was a faint stench of Harry, Ron, Draco and probably Teddy. Teddy had never been able to pick out his own scent signature.

When Teddy was done he backed away from her. Still, she watched him. Unsure what she was expecting, he stepped back and showed her the table he had set on its side as a barrier between him and the bed. She wandered behind it, nosing his clothes that he had stowed there for after the change. She looked from the clothes to Teddy again and then sneezed gently before smelling his clothes again.

Teddy wasn't sure whether to be offended or not. They were clean. He had just washed them.

She moved on, jumping up onto her hind legs to look out the window. Below them, London was still busy with cabs and people. The streets wouldn't reach the 'quiet' of the night for a few more hours yet.

They wandered through the rest of the room, Hermione exploring and Teddy following. There wasn't much of it other than the bed, a bedside table, the upturned table, and a potions cart. Hermione avoided the potions and didn't seem enamored with the bed either, sneezing several times after she explored the sheets. Then she returned to the sideways table and curled up on top of Teddy's clothes.

Was this a challenge? Teddy wasn't sure what to do with that sort of behavior. Usually, the other wolves didn't camp out on their clothing stashes in the forest. Besides, he would be needing those in a couple of hours.

She stuck her nose into his clothing again and closed her eyes. Why would she want to smell his shirt? It was the only foreign object in this whole room. Thinking about it, Teddy realized that was probably exactly why she liked it. Hoping he was right, he went to the bedside table. He pulled down the grocery bag of clothing that had been brought for Hermione.

When he brought it back to where she still lay, she looked at it with disinterest. He broke the plastic with his teeth and shook the bag until all her clothes scattered onto the floor: jeans, a bright pink shirt, and underthings. No longer stifled by the plastic bag, there was a gentle waft of smells foreign to Teddy: old book pages, a cat, and some combination of teas and cleaning supplies.

Hermione perked up as the smell hit her and she left Teddy's clothes to explore her own. Teddy quickly grabbed his own clothes in his teeth and dragged them away to the other side of the table. He sat on them with a huff, happy to have them back.

* * *

**1.29**

* * *

Teddy dozed on the wrong side of the table, waiting for Hermione to leave his nook so he could reclaim it before sunrise. However, she seemed quite content to stay where she was.

So, when the sun's rays finally did come through the window, they were still in the same situation. There wasn't anywhere to hide other than where Hermione was so Teddy decided to force the change faster.

Forcing a transformation faster or slower on either side of the change was possible. However, Teddy rarely did it because it left him physically exhausted. Besides, it was usually useless since the change was inevitable. There was no way to completely hold it off. Well, no way to hold it off and still live, as Hermione's case illustrated.

He was dressed and across the room before the sun had cleared the skyline. Hermione, on the other hand, didn't start her transformation until the sun had fully risen. This time it took the normal amount of time to change back to human. Teddy was grateful.

When the change finished, he could hear her shallow breathing. He could only imagine what she was thinking, discovering her clothes scattered around her and no memory how she got there. When the rustling and scrambling noises of getting dressed stopped, Teddy cleared his throat.

Immediately, there were no noises at all coming from her corner.

"Look, I know this is an extremely bizarre situation to wake up to."

Hermione peeked around the table at him, an afro haloing her head, but her eyes were cold.

"I can explain," he said, holding up his palms up to assure her.

She reached her hand out, and, with a rush of wandless magic, Teddy felt his body stiffening into a full-body-bind. As Teddy's body slipped off the chair, Teddy cast a wordless 'finite' to end the spell. He caught himself with his hands, his nose mere millimeters from the ground. He vaulted to a crouch and watched the young witch warily.

"Where's my wand?" she hissed, hand still outstretched towards him.

"I don't-"

"Why didn't you kill me like the others?" she demanded.

"Ki-Kill?" he choked. Then he realized what she meant. "I'm not the Moonlight Killer!" he said indignantly, standing up.

She took a step back, her eyes narrowed. "Then let me out of here."

He glanced nervously at the door, still magically locked from the outside for everyone's safety during the change. "Actually... I can't."

She immediately threw another wand-less spell at him, which he dodged easily now that he was on guard. But he only barely ducked the second one she cast. By the time he stopped the second spell, Hermione had reached the door. He waited as she tried to open it and then used several spells on the door. Turning, she glared at him.

* * *

**1.30**

* * *

"It can only be opened from the outside. I'll show you." Teddy walked towards the door, once again holding his hands up to try to calm her.

She took several steps backward as he approached and then watched as he tried the door. He pressed the button that was supposed to summon his Uncles. "Harry should be here any minute to open it," Teddy promised. "I'm not here to hurt you."

Her shoulders relaxed a little. "Harry?"

"Yeah," Teddy said, glad he finally had something that hadn't riled her up. "Harry Potter- he's my godfather."

"Godfather?" Hermione surveyed him with a puzzled look. "Who are you?"

Teddy realized he had just stepped in it again. "Erm... Teddy."

She folded her arms. "Teddy Lupin is four years old. You," she looked him up and down, "definitely aren't."

He couldn't help a little smile under her perusal. Then he shifted his hair. Slowly it brightened from the now-normal brown to the neon blue he had preferred when he was younger.

Her eyebrows rose up before snapping down, her mouth pulling into a frown.

Reluctantly, Teddy let his nose morph into that of a pig, knowing it was one of the partial-transformations his mother had favored. He didn't do them. It just made his family sad.

Hermione's eyes grew big. "But... that's not possible."

He let the transformation drop and then wandered back to the bed. "You were out of it for a really long time before they figured out what you needed to recover," he said vaguely.

"How long? How old are you, Teddy?"

He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't think Harry wanted him to break this news. How could he break that kind of news anyways? He glanced around the room, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Well, you've got to be at least twenty," she mused.

Indignation brought his eyes back to hers. "I'm almost twenty-five," he protested.

She started to smile before her face blanked. "Twenty years?" she whispered. She sank down into the chair and hugged her arms tight against her.

Teddy waited for her to say something else but she just stared at the floor for several minutes. Finally, he sat down on the bed.

She looked up. "Are my parents alive? What happened to Harry and Ron?"

Teddy gave a helpless shrug. "I don't know about your parents. Harry and Ron are Aurors. They trained me. Erm... they both got married and have kids?" he finished, not sure what she wanted to know.

"Married? They both have kids?"

Teddy nodded, not sure why she looked so devastated. It took him several seconds but then it clicked. She had dated Ron, hadn't she? "Ron didn't get married right away," he said, hoping it would comfort her a little.

She gave him a puzzled look but then her brow cleared. "Oh, Ron and I were dating other people before I..." she trailed off. "Before this," she finished. She lifted her legs up onto the chair and pulled them against her chest. "What about the Moonlight Killer? Did they catch them?"

Teddy shook his head. "No. Actually, there was another victim. She is why we figured out how to... to fix you."

Hermione cocked her head, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, she asked, "And how was that?"

"Maybe you should ask Harry?" Teddy hedged. Harry was going to chew his hide for what he had already exposed.

Her eyes narrowed again. "Where is he, anyway? Why are we locked in a hospital room? And why are you here?"

Teddy gulped. How in Merlin's beard was Teddy supposed to answer that? "Well... it was for everybody's protection since it was a full moon."

She just stared.

"I was there in case you needed help and since a human might have aggravated you." Teddy didn't particularly want to reveal that he was a werewolf. He also didn't think it was fair to hide it, especially as this life was so suddenly being thrust upon her.

"You're not human?" Hermione's face went through several expressions as she puzzled it out. She blinked and then gave him an assessing look. "Werewolf. You think I'm a werewolf?"

* * *

**1.31**

* * *

"I know you are one," Teddy answered.

She frowned. "How?"

"Last night was the full moon. Your wolf is black with yellow eyes," he said, hoping the details might convince her. "You didn't have a potion so you won't remember it."

She let her head drop down onto her knees. Again, there was a long pause before she whispered, "Werewolf?"

"Yes," he answered softly.

Hermione jerked her head up and yelled and the door. "George Weasley, if this is one of your pranks, I'm going to hex you every day for a year!"

George, of course, did not answer.

She turned her sad eyes on him. "Tell me it's a prank."

Her voice was so desperate. He inched to the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry, Hermione."

Her shoulders hunched up before she closed her eyes. She swallowed hard and took in a ragged breath.

He reached out and touched her shoulder. "It will be okay," he told her.

She fixed her dark eyes on him, bright with unshed tears. She opened her mouth to speak and then shook her head. She looked away pressing her lips together.

He moved his hand in a slow circle, trying to comfort her. "I mean, being a werewolf sucks. Life sucks," he added, thinking of Lilith. "But there are some good parts. Running through the forest as a wolf can be a rush. Harry and Ginny are going to be so happy that you are alive. I think they had given up hope."

"That may be so but what am I supposed to do here? This isn't my time. Its worse than starting over," she whispered.

His hand stilled. "We need you to catch this murderer, for one," he said. "The rest... well, you'll need time to figure that out, won't you?"

She gave a mirthless laugh. "I suppose I've got plenty of that."

He tightened his grip on her shoulder.

She finally turned to look up at him. She flashed a smile that didn't really cover the sadness that still haunted her eyes. "Don't worry about me, Teddy. I can take care of myself. I'll be fine."

He did worry. "I'll show you the werewolf pack," he promised. "I- we all can help you."

She didn't look convinced but they were interrupted by a knock on the door. They both looked at it.

"Harry?" Hermione asked Teddy.

Teddy nodded. "Come in!" he called.

The door cracked open. Harry poked his head into the room. "All clear?"

Teddy was about to answer when Hermione twisted around in her chair. "Harry?" Her voice wavered like she was still on the verge of tears. "Is that you?"

"Hermione," Harry said in awe before darting into the room and towards her.

She jumped from her chair and ran towards him. "Harry!" She buried her head against his chest. "Oh, Harry."

Harry chuckled as he pulled her in a tighter hug. "I've missed you, Hermione," he said softly. "Welcome back."

...

Thus Ends Part 1

I'm working on a finalish draft of part 2 and will hopefully be able to start posting soon. I would love to know what you guys think of it so far!


	7. 2.1

The second he saw Hermione, Harry forgot about Teddy. Harry squeezed her back just as hard. "I can't believe it worked," he whispered. Reverently, he cupped the back of her head and just held her against his shoulder. It looked like he was close to tears. Then he leaned away and took her in, a huge smile blooming on his face. "Merlin's beard, it's you! You're alive!"

"Of course I am, you oaf!" Hermione said, smacking his shoulder and smiling just as widely.

Teddy felt uncomfortable, like he was intruding on this intimate moment between long-lost friends. He didn't have escape options, though; they were blocking the only exit.

Hermione then became more serious as she took in Harry's appearance. "You really are old, aren't you?" she asked sadly.

The elation fell off of Harry's face and his eyes flicked over towards Teddy for a second. "How much do you know?"

She pointed at Teddy. "I know that is Teddy Lupin and I'm a werewolf. How long was I in that coma for, Harry?"

Harry gave Teddy a stern look before turning his attention to Hermione again. "You... might want to sit down for this." He led Hermione towards the only chair in the room. Once she was seated, he explained everything. He started with her attack and magical coma and continued until the new murder. Then he ended with their discovery that she was a werewolf and was dying because a potion wouldn't let her change.

Hermione sat and listened, her shoulders stiff and tense. She didn't react much except to nod or close her eyes at parts.

Finally, Harry wound down and watched her expectantly.

Hermione stared off into space and worried her lip for a while before asking, "What year is this?"

"Twenty twenty-two," Harry said and then waited again for her response.

She took in a huge breath and then forced it out. She stared down at her hands, flipping them over to observe her smooth brown skin again. "So time has left me behind?" she asked, her voice soft and sad.

"Not exactly," Harry said. "Just put you in a different place. We will figure this out, Hermione." Harry placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. "We always have."

She leaned into his embrace and closed her eyes. Then there was another knock on the door.

Pulling his arm away, Harry said, "that is probably Ginny and the gang. They are all excited to see you."

As he walked to the door, Hermione took another deep breath before pasting a big smile on her face. A few seconds later, a tumble of people spilled into the room. There was Ginny and her children, Ron and George and their parents, and Luna Scamander and even more of the extended Weasley family. Teddy didn't bother to keep track of them when they all got into the same room. The noise was near deafening, especially with his senses still raw after the change. Hermione must have felt the same, but it was hard to tell. She was laughing and hugging everyone and exclaiming over all the news they were telling her.

The uncomfortable feeling was back. It was like when a new friend of his met up with an old friend of theirs. He just stood by while they talked about all their in-jokes and history that he didn't know anything about. In this case, he actually did know the history, but the recounting still made him feel alien.

Usually it wouldn't have bothered him this much. But he was tired. Had been tired since Lilith's death. He just couldn't muster the energy to deal with that many excited people. His exit no longer blocked, Teddy slipped out into the hallway.

...

A/N: Okay, thanks to my diligent alpha-reader, fleurdelys21, the second part is finished! Now we get to see what happens when Hermione finally rejoins the land of the living :)


	8. 2.2

Teddy leaned against the wall and then slid down until he was sitting on the hallway floor. As a werewolf, there was always that sensation of being apart, like a lone wolf that hadn't found a pack he could claim. It usually wasn't that bad around the Potters, but today, watching them, it was strong enough that it physically hurt.

He sighed. How much of this longing was his own and how much was from his wolf? He knew wolves were pack creatures but the Alpha and his pack had never had a big draw for Teddy. The pack had dynamics no different from his experience in Hogwarts or with the Aurors. Actually, the dynamics were worse in the pack because Teddy was lower on the totem pole, and he had no desire to fight for a higher spot.

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he wondered if he would be feeling these things if his parents had been alive. To his parents, his abilities would have seemed normal. His family would have been the one place where he wouldn't have felt strange. Did the wizarding world really need them so badly that Teddy had to be forever deprived of them?

He hadn't felt this way as often once Lilith became his friend. She had always made him feel a little less odd. They had relied on each other for that sense of belonging. Now she was gone, taking that belonging with her. He couldn't help thinking that he had let her down somehow. He slumped his head down onto knees and forced a couple of breaths through his tight chest.

Maybe werewolfism really was a curse. Maybe some witch hadn't just cursed werewolves to change into monsters but to be miserable as well. It did seem to take away those who were closest to him.

"What are you doing on the floor?"

Teddy shook himself from his thoughts enough to recognize his Uncle Draco's voice. Draco stood over him, his face drawn in a frown. Teddy dragged a hand over his face to try to compose himself a little. "Nothing. What are you doing here?"

In answer Draco lifted his container of vials. "Doing St. Mungo's job for them," he said dryly. He glanced at the door from which, if Teddy listened carefully, he could still hear the joyful reunions. Draco cocked an eyebrow at Teddy. "Did they kick you out?"

Teddy laughed. "No. No, it's just..." he trailed off and shrugged. "It is a little cramped and loud in there. I needed a break."

Draco scrutinized him for a moment before nodding. "Especially after the full moon, I take it."

"Yeah," Teddy said. "I don't get how Hermione can stand it."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Been around Gryffindors too much of her life, I suspect. Come on, I need to get some blood."

There was a hush when Draco entered the room as everyone turned to see the newcomer.

Ron quickly stepped between Hermione and Draco. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?" he asked.

...

A/N: I'll post two chapters today as a kick off to finally posting for this story again. What do you guys think??


	9. 2.3

"What do you think, Weasley?" Draco sardonically lifted his container. "Granger, I need to do some tests now that you are awake."

Hermione leaned around Ron to watch Draco. "More tests? The healers were already here, Malfoy," she said, frowning.

Draco lined the vials up along the side table. He shot her a look. "Did you take anything?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "No. Why-"

Harry interrupted in an irritated tone. "He thinks that the healers here are incompetent."

Draco snorted. "Not just think. I proved it. I need a sample to experiment on as well, Granger." He said that last bit as a statement, but looked questioningly at her.

Hermione paused for a beat before asking, "Like a tissue sample?"

He nodded.

She considered this as both Ron and Harry blustered. Finally, she interrupted. "You said it was because of Malfoy that I'm awake?"

Harry agreed sullenly.

"Then that will be fine," she said, straightening up. Then she looked around the room, taking in all of her friends. "How about we continue this once I'm discharged?" she asked with a smile.

Taking their cue, people began to say goodbye before trickling out of the room. There was talk about continuing things at a family dinner. Fairly quickly, it was decided that once Hermione was released from St. Mungo's there would be an especially large Sunday dinner at the Grimmauld House. Finally, the room emptied so it was just Harry, Teddy, Draco, and Hermione.

Hermione turned her attention to Draco again. "Have you been working with the werewolves?" she asked.

"Not much," Draco replied absently as he picked up one of his vials. "They have someone competent enough with potions. I checked." At this last bit he smirked in Harry's direction.

Teddy had forgotten that Draco had asked for a sample of the modified wolfsbane potion. He also hadn't realized his Uncle had been checking it for safety.

"Really?" Hermione asked, studying him and then flicking her gaze over to Teddy.

Draco nodded and explained the tests distractedly as he continued his work. Hermione continued to scrutinize him and Teddy in turn until he finished.

Draco didn't react except to give her a grim smile as he gave her a clean bill of health. "You'll have to do more follow-ups to keep an eye on side effects," he said. "Just choose someone that doesn't work at the hospital."

"What about following up with you?" Hermione asked.

Draco looked momentarily pleased before busying himself with cleaning up the vials. "I suppose I could make some time in my schedule. I do want to write up a paper on my findings."

"I think that would be great," Hermione said with a smile. "At least all this can improve our understanding of werewolves and magic."

Draco snorted. "Only you could turn this into a quest for knowledge, Granger."


	10. 2.4

After Draco cleared her, it didn't take long for St. Mungo's to grudgingly clear her as well. The pack healer came by and listened with a sour expression as Hermione explained that she wasn't interested in taking any of her potions.

"I'd like to see him try to practice magical medicine," the pack healer grumbled under her breath after she caught onto the thinly veiled insults Draco had thrown her way. Then her eyes turned to Hermione and her face softened. "Not that I blame you, dear. It is a perfectly natural reaction to your experience here. Please understand that we did everything we could for you and are personally very concerned for your health."

Hermione smiled awkwardly. "I'm sure you did. How could you have suspected that I had changed into a werewolf when it was several days until the full moon?"

"Yes. Yes, of course, dear," the old woman said, looking relieved that Hermione didn't blame her.

Hermione got several similar admonishments from the St. Mungo's staff, as she started making noises about leaving. Although the staff wasn't happy about it, Harry and Hermione finally convinced them to discharge her that same day. Harry had apparently talked her into staying with him and Ginny for the time being. Harry announced that he was taking care of Hermione and that Teddy should return to his Auror duties.

It felt odd to leave Hermione so quickly. Maybe it was just him, but he thought sharing the full moon had bonded them in some way. In any case, he wasn't sure what his Auror duties were now that he was kicked off of Lilith's case. He knew what he wanted to do and that was find out anything and everything Hermione knew about the Moonlight Killer. Given that she hadn't said anything about her attack, it seemed she didn't have any new information. Still, there had to be something.

He stood at St. Mungo's apparition point, staring where Hermione and Harry had been. Surely Harry would bring her in for questioning? Then he could just wait to see a transcript or pensieve. There was a part of him that was sure that the answer lay inside her memories. Maybe he could draft up some of his own questions just to make sure Harry didn't miss anything. That would sort of be Auror duties, right?

Teddy apparated to the Ministry and found Hasan at their desks.

"How did it go?" Hasan asked.

Teddy flashed him a tired smile. "Well, she is alive." Then he lowered his voice. "And definitely a werewolf."

"Not that that is a surprise, given everything."

Teddy shrugged. "I suppose I still hoped we were wrong somehow. That she didn't have to go through being a werewolf."

"You think it really will be that bad?" Hasan asked. "She was well-loved before all this. Won't she be hailed as the returning war-hero and all that?"

Teddy grunted noncommittally. "They didn't do it with my dad. They talk about him with more respect than they do about other werewolves. But they act like sacrificing himself in the final battle was the best thing that he could have done with his life," he said bitterly.

Hasan winced. "I didn't realize it was that bad. Sorry, Ted. What do you think we can do about Hermione? To make things better for her?"

Teddy sighed. "I don't know. I wish that this killer wasn't a werewolf because that is just going to stoke up hysteria about werewolves right as everyone finds out that she is one."

Hasan leaned back in his chair. "Well, I suppose we can make sure we are there for her."

Teddy raised an eyebrow. "We?"

"Yeah, make sure that the werewolves are treated fairly during this investigation. And make sure that she realizes there is nothing wrong with being a werewolf." Hasan glanced over at Teddy and said sternly, "because there is nothing wrong with being a werewolf."

"Yeah, I know," Teddy mumbled, feeling guilty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Internalmayhem, Axelex12, and Mkcaraher and the guests who have left kudos!


	11. 2.5

By the end of the week, Teddy was tired of waiting for Harry to bring Hermione into the Ministry.

"When is he going to actually get some work in?" Teddy grumbled to Hasan as they passed Harry's still empty office.

"He might actually be on assignment," Hasan said. "Or maybe there is a lot he has to do to get Hermione back to normal wizard citizenship?"

"Maybe." Whatever it was, Teddy doubted it was important enough to justify putting things off this long. He knew he wasn't the patient type but he thought waiting a week would be stretching it for anyone.

He and Hasan had already reviewed the Moonlight Killer case several times. They didn't have any solid leads in that case they could follow while they waited on Harry and Hermione. Meanwhile, the case and any leads that they might get from Hermione were growing even colder.

It probably didn't help his impatience that they had hit a dead end with the smuggling case as well. Teddy had called in all their old informants and no one had anything new to say. The failed drop had apparently made everyone jumpy.

"I'm going to talk to him," Teddy said darkly. "We need Hermione's account."

Hasan laughed. "Your funeral."

"What's he going to do?" Teddy asked with a roll of his eyes. "Kick me off the case?"

He decided to use his lunch break to check in on the Grimmauld House. Maybe if Ginny was home he could convince her to feed him.

Since he was considered part of the family, Teddy didn't bother to knock. He entered the front door and then froze when he heard raised voices. Years of experience had him turning to leave again but the owners of the voices stopped him. They weren't Harry and Ginny but Harry and Hermione. Harry and Ginny were known for their explosive fights but, as long as no one interfered, made up quickly and didn't seem the worse for it. Teddy had no idea what might happen with Harry and Hermione and he had a morbid curiosity to find out.

He stole a little closer to the voices which seemed to be coming from the living room.

"I said I didn't know if I wanted to go back," Hermione was saying. "That doesn't mean 'please go force a position so I can return to the Ministry.'"

"It isn't a forced position," Harry started.

Hermione continued over the top of him. "You think I want a position because Harry Potter pulled some strings?"

"But you were good at your job."

"Yes, but I barely got them to respect me the first time. They aren't ever going to respect me if you get me the job. Besides, I don't even know if I want to go through all of that again."

"Okay," Harry said a little more gently. "Then what do you want?"

"I don't know, Harry," Hermione said, sounding even more exasperated. "That is why I said to let me think about it."

"Okay," Harry repeated in a coaxing tone. "Then let's think about it."

"No!" Hermione's voice had gone up again. "There is no us. This is my life and I don't need you to fix it for me. I may seem young to you, but I am not a child and I am certainly not your child. I can take care of my own life."

Teddy hadn't realized how close her voice was getting until she turned the corner and ran right into him. His hands automatically went up and braced her hips to keep her from bowling him over.

...

Thank you for the bookmarks!


	12. 2.6

She gave a startled half-shriek and jumped away from him. Then she got a good look at him and relaxed. "Teddy! What in Merlin's beard are you doing here?"

"Er, sorry," Teddy mumbled, flexing his fingers to try to get rid of the sparks running through them. She had really nice hips. "I'm- I'm here about the case."

"Oh right, you're an Auror," Hermione said, sounding breathless. She gave him a long once over that would have been more flattering if Teddy hadn't detected a distinct clinical edge to it. Then she sighed and looked away. "This is just too weird," she muttered.

"What is?" Harry asked.

She quickly turned to him. "Nothing."

Harry sighed and addressed Hermione again. "I know I'm not your father. I'm not trying to be your father, but we lost you for twenty years, Hermione. You were as good as dead. Then you are miraculously alive," -Harry smiled sadly and looked away- "and I can't help if I'm feeling overly protective."

Hermione visibly softened as Harry talked, and she bit her lip as she considered him.

Harry turned his gaze to her again. "Your attacker hasn't been apprehended. He seems to be attacking people again. Killing again. When I say don't go out without protection I'm not trying to be your father. That is what I would say as an Auror to anyone in your situation."

"It's true," Teddy said, a little surprised he was backing Harry up. "Standard procedure."

Hermione glanced between both of them. "I suppose I see why that would be important, especially how splashy my recovery has been in the papers."

Harry brightened.

She frowned and turned an accusing finger on him. "That doesn't negate the other parts. You guys keep buying me clothes or making me jobs or fixing my room-"

"We'll stop that," Harry said. "I'll tell Ginny too."

"But it's not really about the clothes or the job or," Hermione trailed off and gripped the bridge of her nose. "We'll talk about this later, okay Harry? I need a walk." She turned to Teddy. "You have time to be my bodyguard?"

"Yeah," Teddy said, perking up at the idea. "That would be fun."

Harry pressed his lips together and said, "Constant vigilance, Teddy."

Teddy resisted the urge to sarcastically salute in response to one of Harry's favorite catchphrases. Instead, he tried to give a serious nod so Harry didn't feel the need to lecture him on duty.

...

Thank you to blurredkenopsia for the kudos!


	13. 2.7

They slipped out into the Muggle street. The pavement was narrow enough that they kept bumping shoulders. Teddy tried not to notice how each time their fingers accidentally brushed it sent a jolt up his arm.

"Where do you live, Teddy?" Hermione said.

"What?" he asked, startled out of his reverie.

"You are a werewolf. So how do you live? Do you have a flat?"

"Oh," Teddy said and rubbed the back of his head. "Er, actually I don't. Before Lilith and I broke up I spent most of my time at the werewolf forest. She has a cottage there, you see."

Hermione blinked. "Lilith is the woman who was killed?"

Teddy nodded miserably and forced himself to swallow around his dry throat. "Yeah, we only broke up a few months ago." He thought about it. "Okay maybe six."

"Oh, Teddy, that is horrible," she said, casting a sympathetic look his way.

Teddy's shoulders automatically hunched. "Yeah, well, that is why I'm glad to be on this case. That way I can catch the bastard that did this."

Hermione nodded. "That makes sense," she said hesitantly.

"But you were asking about living conditions?" Teddy said, not wanting to talk about it. "You don't want to stay at Grimmauld House?"

She nodded.

"It will probably be hard to find a place once people know you are a werewolf. You could look into Muggle options. That's what I was considering before. It just wasn't a priority after..." he waved a hand to encompass everything. Dating Lilith. Breaking up. Her death. Lately he had just gone home to his grandmother's house or the clubhouse and crashed after eating dinner. He hadn't had much energy for anything else, including trying to find his own flat.

Hermione cast another sympathetic look his way. "But people don't know you are a werewolf. Why would you consider Muggle housing?"

"Harry insisted on it." At her indignant look he shrugged. "I think he is right. If the landlord got suspicious and started being nosy it could mean a lot of trouble for me."

She looked like she was considering this.

"Harry isn't going to let you live on your own until the killer is caught."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "He isn't going to let me?"

Teddy shrugged and looked away. "He is going to want you to have protection."

"You said that you were here about the case?" She asked. "How close are you to capturing the killer?"

"Er, well, we're stalled, actually," he said. "We wanted to get your information before we try to break the werewolf ranks."

"Oh," she said and looked down. "Teddy, I'm not going to be any help."

"I'm sure-"

"No, Teddy. I don't remember the attack."

Teddy's heart stuttered and sank. "Oh."


	14. 2.8

Hermione agreed to an interview anyway. She insisted that they do it that afternoon so that Teddy and Hasan wouldn't have to wait on her anymore.

So that was how he ended up walking into the Ministry with the famous Hermione Granger trailing behind him. Needless to say, they made quite a stir. As they passed, most of the people did double or triple takes as they recognized her. When they stared, Hermione would do an awkward little wave. Sometimes those people would take it as an invitation. Then they would stop her in the hall. They exclaimed on her being alive, welcomed her back, and asked what she was doing at the Ministry. This would, in turn, draw even more people who had to say the same thing. Nobody, Teddy noticed, mentioned her being a werewolf.

Eventually, after it taking twice as long (maybe even three times as long) as usual, they made it to Teddy's desk.

Hasan stood as they approached and looked between them. "Are we doing a follow-up interview?" he asked.

"We are doing the full interview," Teddy responded, trying not to sound nervous.

Hasan raised an eyebrow. "And Harry approved that?"

"I approved it," Hermione said with a sniff. "I have no interest in being interviewed by Harry. Besides, maybe you two will be able to find something we missed the first time around."

Teddy shared an uneasy look with Hasan.

"Alright," Hasan sighed. "I'm game as long as Teddy takes the heat for this."

"Hey!" Teddy yelped.

"I'll take the heat," Hermione said. "I know how to handle Harry."

Hasan raised his hands in a sign of defeat and then gestured to the door. "Interrogation rooms are this way. Or, er, interview rooms."

Hermione gave a soft huff of a laugh. "Lead the way."

When they entered the interrogation room, Hasan introduced himself formally. He followed the usual protocols when they questioned a witness. He informed her that their conversation might be presented in a pensieve or written by a self-writing quill.

Hermione agreed and nervously fingered the tea they had given her. "I already told Teddy this but I don't actually remember the attack."

Hasan looked startled but Teddy, who had been thinking about this, nodded. He asked, "Then what was your last memory before you woke up in the hospital?"

Hermione shrugged helplessly. "I think I was walking into Muggle London. I had agreed to meet up with Harry and Ron at Prezzo."

"Why were you meeting at a Muggle location?" Hasan asked.

"We get too much attention at Wizarding establishments... or got attention, I suppose," she said and listlessly stirred her tea.

"Erm... were you aware of attention from any one particular?" Teddy asked.

Hermione shook her head miserably.

"Did anyone else knew you were going to Prezzo?" Hasan asked.

"I don't think so. I don't know if Ron or Harry had told anyone but I think it would be unlikely."

Teddy tried not to let his frustration show.

Hasan soldiered on. "Give us a walk through of the last couple of days leading to the attack." At Hermione's worried glance, he added, "Or what you can remember."

She nodded and glumly took a sip of her tea again before launching into a recount of the last few days before her coma.

* * *

Thanks for the kudos, Ravenclaw4Life!


	15. 2.9

After another hour or so of interrogation, they finally seemed to have gotten everything that Hermione could remember.

The last lead she had been pursuing was whether there were any magic signatures that connected the victims. There hadn't been anything in the victim's backgrounds that connected them, so she thought maybe it was a different pattern. Maybe they were visiting the same shop or using the same potions. She had taken samples to be tested at the hospital, but no links had been found beyond the mundane household potions. With her most recent lead had fizzled out, Hermione had been on her way to meet up with Harry and Ron to try to regroup.

She had spent most of her time following the movement patterns of the victims. However, she had always been in disguise, so it was unlikely that she had been recognized this way.

"Were any of these undercover missions close to the full moon?" Teddy asked.

"Because of a werewolf's heightened sense of smell?" Hermione said as she caught on. "No, we stayed at the Ministry the day before and after the full moon."

"What about the night of your attack?" Hasan asked.

She shook her head. "That was two nights before the full moon. That's why nobody thought it was werewolves."

Hasan rubbed his forehead. "Do you have anything that Aurors Harry and Ron haven't already collected?"

She pursed her lips, "Well, most of my theories would be almost impossible to pursue now, given how much time has passed." She pulled at a little corkscrew of hair that had escaped her hair twist. "I tried seeing if there were patterns on different nights, or if the sprees were grouped together. There were a couple of possible patterns."

Teddy nodded. "Maybe if we pool our resources, it will give us a clearer picture." He glanced over to see how Hasan responded, seeing as he was the actual Auror on the case.

"You mean, pull her on as a consultant for the case again?" Hasan tipped his head to the side to consider Hermione.

Hermione scooted towards the edge of her seat and looked between the two of them. "Actually, I'd like that. I'd feel a lot better if we could actually catch this monster. It's a lot fresher in my mind than Harry's or Ron's and that might help too."

Teddy looked anxiously at Hasan. Hasan could be a stickler for the rules. He might see bringing Hermione on as too close to bringing Teddy back onto the case.

"I think this case is going to need everyone we can put on it," Hasan said eventually. He offered a hand across the table. "I would welcome your expertise."

Hermione broke into a smile. "Thank you. I hope I can help you finally close this." She stood and shook hands with Hasan.

Teddy watched the exchange with satisfaction. Not only was she familiar with the Moonlight Killer case, but she had excellent analytical skills. Of course, there was also a part of him hoping that this would allow him to wriggle back into the case as well.

Speaking of Harry, he was probably still at the Grimmauld House. This would probably be an ideal time to get a handle on the investigation. "We could look over the information now, if you want to join us at our desks," Teddy offered, gesturing towards the door.

Once Hermione was facing away, Hasan raised an eyebrow at Teddy.

Teddy shrugged. "We'll just do the paperwork to make her an official consultant when we get there. Multitasking."

"You mean, you will be filling out the paperwork while I talk with Hermione about the case that isn't yours anymore?" Hasan asked with a smirk.

Sure Hasan wouldn't completely cut him out, Teddy just rolled his eyes. "Me? Paperwork? Won't Harry do that?"

Hermione, who had been walking slightly behind them, asked in an amused tone, "Why would Harry do it?"

Hasan chuckled a little and then said over his shoulder. "Everyone is convinced that Auror Potter is doing all of Teddy's work for him."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Including the paperwork?"

Teddy grinned. "Only in my dreams."

Hasan held the office door for them and shook his head solemnly. "You've got some weird dreams, mate."

Hermione's laugh drew the attention of those near them. To Teddy's frustration they had to go through a repeat of when Hermione had first arrived. Aurors crowded around them, all wanting to talk to Hermione and tell her just how amazing they thought she was. Teddy looked at his watch pointedly a few times, but nobody seemed to be paying attention to him.


	16. 2.10

Eventually the other Aurors lost interest enough for Hermione to make it back to Teddy and Hasan's desks. Their desks were big enough that they squeezed her between them, allowing her to take a little of each of their desks.

Hasan pulled out a parchment and slapped it down in front of Teddy. "Finish your work so you don't make your death horrible and slow," Hasan said.

Seeing it was the form for a consultant, Teddy grumbled and pulled out his quill.

Hermione covered a smile with her hand.

Teddy mock glared at her. "Just watch, there will be research that paperwork siphons off years of your life."

Hasan pulled out Lilith's case file and said, "Only because it takes you so long."

"Yeah, yeah," Teddy mumbled but couldn't quite keep his mock glare when Hermione grinned. He returned her grin shyly before trying to demonstrate that he could be productive despite Hasan's ribbing. Teddy had managed to write down Hermione's name and the date before he got distracted.

"What's this?" Hermione was asking.

Hasan leaned in. "Oh, that's the potion comparison for what you had in your wounds and what the murder victim had in hers."

"What?" Teddy jumped up to look at the report as well. "Harry didn't tell me they had finished that."

Hasan raised an eyebrow. "You mean he hasn't told you about the case that he kicked you off of?"

Teddy frowned at him. "Come on, Hasan."

With a smirk, Hasan tilted the paper so that Teddy could read it. The report only confirmed Teddy's suspicions. Once the false counter potion had been removed, the other potion in Hermione's wounds matched the one that had been found in Lilith's wounds.

Hasan pulled it back for Hermione to read. "Not that it really gives us much to go on other than a solid link between the two cases."

Hermione shook her head. "Actually, when connected with the most recent victim's death, it proves that the murderer has some sort of connection to the werewolves. The killer knew about the werewolf forest and the pack's habits well enough that they weren't detected. Also, the victim must be pretty significant for them to choose to come out of hiding to kill again."

Teddy felt his throat constrict as he thought of Lilith again.

"We need to figure out what contacts the victim had outside the werewolf pack, in case her killer isn't a werewolf," Hasan said.

"They are," Teddy said, coming out of his stupor. "Draco said that a werewolf under the influence of the potion could infect people even if it wasn't the full moon. Since Hermione changed, we know our killer is a werewolf."

"Oookay," Hasan said, raising an eyebrow. "And you were going to mention that..." he trailed off.

Teddy lifted a helpless hand. "I completely blanked I hadn't told you. There have been a lot of things going on."

Hasan rolled his eyes. "Fine. We should still cover that base, just in case, but that at least gives us something to go on."

Hermione nodded. "Now we need to figure out which werewolf would have a compelling reason to silence the victim."

"Not only that," Teddy said slowly. "They have to be old enough to commit the old murders as well. Was a motive ever suggested for the attacks?"

Hermione shook her head. "Given the lack of pattern, it appeared to be random terrorism. My attack was most likely because I was investigating."


	17. 2.11

Hermione sent Harry an owl to inform him where she was. Then they spent the rest of the day catching her up on the case and having her expound on her theories in turn. Hermione and Hasan seemed to get along easily and Teddy wasn't sure whether to be happy or jealous. He didn't want to lose what he had with Hasan but there was also a spark of something between Teddy and Hermione. He would prefer it that both of his worlds could collide peacefully. Just not peacefully enough that they decided that they didn't need Teddy.

Hermione explained how the attacks seemed to divide into two types. There were two of what she called 'spree kills' where there would be several bodies found together in a pile. After that there would be a string of individual kills around the full moon.

"I thought maybe the individual kills were his way of spacing things out. Working himself up to the next spree. The individual kills were usually women and I thought that might mean something, but I'm not enough of a profiler to figure it out," Hermione said on a sigh. "And his spree kills seemed to be both men and women. More men but I think that might just be because there are more men out late at night."

"Our current victim is a female," Hasan said with a worried pinch in his brow. "Do you think he might be working himself up to another spree?"

Teddy, who hadn't made that connection, looked up worriedly.

Hermione thought it over and shrugged. "All the individual attacks seemed to be on high-profile purebloods. Again, that might contribute to a profile of some kind, but I'm not sure what it would be. Do they hate purebloods? Did they just want to make a stir by attacking highly visible witches?" Hermione pulled at one of her springy curls again and let it go with a sigh. "But even then the pattern wasn't perfect. They weren't all purebloods. They weren't all female. These attacks seemed all over the place and I couldn't make a clear connection between any of it."

Hasan's fingers worked at his temples as he thought. "This doesn't really point us to any particular werewolf. They probably all hate purebloods. Maybe if we could figure out which ones are particularly vicious around the full moons. But I can't see any of them volunteering that kind of information."

Hermione sat up with a determined look on her face. "I'll go undercover."

Hasan and Teddy looked at her with alarm.

"What?" Hasan said. "Undercover where?"

"I'll join the wolf pack," she said. "That way they'll start to accept me as one of their own. I can study their behavior and see if any of them match what we know."

Teddy was relieved he would have a way to easily pass on his information about the pack. However, he felt really guilty about feeling relieved. It would be easy for him, but he couldn't let Hermione into the pack. One of them was trying to kill her. Lilith was a gruesome example of what the killer was capable of.

"I don't know, Hermione," he said. "One of them tried to kill you."

Hasan nodded. "It would be like painting a bulls-eye on your back."

Hermione only looked more determined and a little haughty. "But now I know I should be watching my back. I'll take Teddy," she said. "He can disguise himself as someone else," she added as an afterthought. "We can bait this killer, and then I can live without a bunch of Aurors breathing down my neck."

"Harry isn't going to like this," Teddy said uneasily.

Hermione sniffed. "As long as I have protection he can't say anything."

Knowing Harry, he could definitely say something.

Hermione nodded. "I'll go in and gather information. We'll figure out which werewolves we need to interview and then you two can do the interviews." She held a hand up to stop Teddy and Hasan from saying anything else. "If Harry agrees then you'll both just have to put up with it."

She stood and glanced at her watch. "In any case it's time for dinner. I'll see you two on Monday." She swept out of the Auror office, turning towards the floo station.

Teddy and Hasan looked at each nervously.

"Harry will stop her," Hasan said.

Teddy nodded and tried to comfort himself with the knowledge of how bull-headed Harry could be.


	18. 2.12

That evening, Teddy went to his grandmother's for dinner. She had a steadying influence that Teddy needed at the moment.

He hadn't appreciated that quietness when he was younger, and had always been eager to leave and visit Harry or Draco's homes. Each had had different but equally alluring attractions to a young boy. The Grimmauld House was always brimming with people and usually at least one of them was scheming to make trouble. The Malfoy Manor had been quieter but with expensive wizarding toys to play with and expansive grounds to explore.

Yet Andromeda had been the influence in the background. She managed the logistics of his visiting timetables and what he would need for school, a trip, or a full moon. She was the one who had sat him down and lectured him about treating girls well, the ethical use of magic, the finer points of puberty, and how being a werewolf didn't change his humanity.

She was reticent by nature and her lectures only came right as Teddy was starting to wonder about the topic. So it became natural for him to seek out his grandmother when he wanted to sort something out just as he was doing now. She would either allow him the silence to think things through or she would pierce him with her grey eyes and ask him questions that inevitably struck at the crux of the matter. When he was younger, he had thought she could read his mind. Maybe she could, but now he had Occlumency training and she still had the unnerving ability to read between the lines.

He hoped that she could use her superpower at this dinner as well. His head was too full of thoughts for them to do much more than ping around the inside of his head. However, Andromeda merely ate her dinner, seemingly content to let him think the whole meal.

Finally, Teddy blurted, "Do you remember the Moonlight Killer case?" At his grandmother's amused glance, he corrected himself. "I mean, do you remember what happened around the original murders?"

"I doubt I remember anything that the Ministry doesn't already know," she said mildly. "What do you think I might remember that would help?"

Even used to his grandmother's approach, it was still frustrating to have his questions turned back on him. "Well, did it seem like it could have been some rabid werewolf? Or did it seem to have connections with the war?"

"If it did, would it change how you investigated?" she asked.

He wasn't sure, would he? "Er, I suppose I'd rather get clear on the werewolf angle before I chased any more wilder theories," he allowed. "What do you remember about the werewolves?"

"Your father was my main source of information," she said with the delicate implication that Remus had died before the pack formed or the murders took place. "Surely there is someone else who would have more personal knowledge of them?"

"No one I trust," Teddy mumbled, stabbing at his potatoes. That was one of the reasons Hermione wanted to join the pack in the first place. Yet, his conscience couldn't allow that.

When he looked up, his grandmother's gaze had sharpened, like she had scented a trail. Teddy waited for her to say something, but she stayed annoyingly silent as she focused on finishing her carrots.

Teddy was trying to come up with a question that would get her talking again when the patronus appeared. It was Harry's white stag telling him to report to him immediately.

Andromeda slowly put her fork down and dabbed at her mouth. Her eyes twinkled as she said, "You know dear, I've enjoyed having you here again. The house is so quiet sometimes."

"But Harry makes things a little too noisy?" Teddy guessed.

Andromeda laughed. "Actually, I was thinking of coming over and seeing what the fuss was about."

"Well, it's probably about Hermione wanting to join the werewolf pack," Teddy said, trying to warn her off. "It's probably resulted in another fight between the two of them."

Of course, her eyes only twinkled more. "How fascinating. Do take me along, Teddy."

Since you didn't say no to Andromeda Tonks, Teddy did just that.

As soon as Teddy was out of the fireplace, Harry was yelling from the other room. "What did you say to Hermione?"

Teddy took a moment to give his grandmother his arm so that she could step over the fireplace grate. It was only when he had seen Andromeda almost fall after tripping over her rug that Teddy had realized how fragile she was in her old age. Now, when they went out together, he always stopped to make sure she handled the more challenging parts. He tried not to make it obvious what he was doing, but his grandmother would always pat his hand afterwards, silently acknowledging it. While he was thus occupied he could hear Hermione.

"Honestly, Harry," she said. "Didn't I tell you this was my idea? Don't go blaming Teddy."

"You said you'd be more careful," Harry was saying. "Then you go off with him and suddenly decide to dive headlong into danger again. What do you expect me to think?"

Andromeda placed a hand on Teddy's arm for support and glanced up to the voices. They both made their way up the stairs to where Harry and Hermione were still yelling at each other.

"I expect you to think that I'm a grown woman who makes her own choices," Hermione snapped.

The staircase door creaked as Teddy opened it to the ground floor.

"There you are," Harry said, poking his head into the hallway. "Now, Teddy, explain-" Harry suddenly stopped as he recognized who Teddy was with. "Andromeda! Er, of course you are always welcome but this isn't the best time-"

Andromeda lifted a hand to cut him off. "I heard well enough what is going on, young man."

It was still strange for Teddy to hear Andromeda address his Uncle Harry like that. Harry, with his graying temples and lined jaw, did not look young.

Hermione peeked over Harry's shoulder and brightened as she saw the older woman. "Andromeda!" she said brightly. "Oh it is nice to see you," she said in a completely different tone than the one she had used with Harry. "Come, sit down. Would you like some tea?"

"Who are you, offering tea in my home?" Ginny said, popping her head over the banister of the stairs to the first floor.

Hermione frowned at her. "Oh, now you are going to make an appearance?"

"You were holding your own," Ginny said flippantly. "Tea, Andromeda?"

"That would be lovely, dear. Nothing too strong, though, given the hour."

Ginny pointed her wand in the general direction of the kitchen in the basement.

Andromeda nodded in approval. "Now, am I to understand that we are disapproving of our little war-hero's plan to put herself in danger again?"

Hermione fidgeted and Harry looked uncomfortable. Teddy again marveled at how she managed to make all involved parties squirm.

"Hmm, we might as well go back down to the basement so we can have our tea," Andromeda said. So they all trooped down the stairs again to the large table by the kitchen.


	19. 2.13

Andromeda sank down into one of the chairs with a weary sigh. "Now, tell me what this is all about."

"Well, I'm a werewolf now," Hermione said as she sat across from her. "Harry thinks my attacker is still out there and will try to kill me again. I don't want to be looking over my shoulder all the time, so I want to join the pack and draw them out."

"That does sound dangerous," Andromeda said mildly. She turned to Harry, as if giving him the floor.

Harry, who had seated himself at the head of the table, scowled. "And I told her that is what Aurors are for. She nearly got killed the first time she tried to hunt down this psycho."

Andromeda glanced at Teddy, who had taken a seat next to her. "Is there a way to discover or draw out this killer without Hermione's help?"

Teddy, who had been considering this, hesitated. Hermione's plan did seem like their best option even if he was loath to put her in danger like that again. They didn't have a clear motive or method. Unless the killer moved on a target they were watching, they might lose the killer this time around as well.

Andromeda nodded as if Teddy had said something and turned to the rest of the group. "Harry, your desire to protect your friends is admirable, but perhaps this is another instance where you must accept the danger?"

The tea kettle whistled. "Give me a minute," Ginny said as she got up. "But that seems like a desperate last move rather than the first one to turn to, don't you think? Hermione has had more than her fair share of danger in her life."

Hermione looked a little mollified by this but still shook her head. "The Aurors have had twenty years to find this person. I think we are at desperate last moves, especially if the killer is working themselves up to another spree."

As the debate continued, Teddy followed Ginny to the kitchen to help her prepare and serve the tea.

They debated and strategized until their tea ran cold and Andromeda was covering yawns too frequently to be ignored. However, it always came back to this: Hermione was their best chance to catch her attacker. For her part, Hermione agreed to all the protective measures. Harry told her to put up wards, wear protective charms, and check in at regular intervals until it sounded like she was going back to war. Teddy supposed in a sense she was. Teddy was inducted as Hermione's official bodyguard while she was at the werewolf forest. He found some comfort in this because it meant that he finally had an excuse to be close to the case again, even if he felt bad about the method.

"I'm glad we had this chat in the basement," Andromeda said as Teddy helped her to the floo. "Stairs seem like a bit too much at the moment." She covered another yawn. "Do keep yourself safe, Hermione," she said over her shoulder. "I would like to catch up soon over a luncheon, and it will be a lot harder if you are busy fighting off a crazed werewolf."

Hermione dryly agreed to seeing her soon. After saying their goodbyes to the rest of the group, Andromeda and Teddy flooed home.

Teddy helped her until she reached the cane that she didn't like to use in public. Then she let go of his arm to lean on it instead.

"You really think this is our best option?" Teddy asked at last, feeling guilty that he hadn't found a way around it.

Andromeda lightly patted his cheek. "You are a dear boy. If you thought putting yourself in danger would solve this case, would you?"

Guilt pricked him again. "Do you think that exposing my werewolfism would help?"

Andromeda laughed softly. "No, Teddy. I highly doubt it. I meant, if putting yourself in a similar situation to Hermione would solve the case, would you do it?"

"Yeah, of course I would," Teddy said defensively. "I just can't figure out how to do it."

She nodded. "Then how can you blame Hermione for being determined to do the same thing?"


End file.
